Federal govt to challenge release of child pornography convict

ISLAMABAD: The federal government is going to challenge the release of a person who was convicted and sentenced for seven years imprisonment for his involvement as a member of the international racket of child pornography.

A statement issued by the office of the Attorney General for Pakistan on Saturday stated that the federal government was in process of challenging the order reportedly passed by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on May 14, 2020 for release of Sadaat Amin who was convicted and sentenced for seven years imprisonment for his involvement as a member of the international racket of child pornography.

The AG office spokesperson stated that while the order of his release was reported in the media but so far, formal order of the Lahore High Court for his release has not been issued.

On the contrary a notice has been received from the Assistant Registrar of the LHC on Saturday whereby the case has once again been fixed for hearing on May 19, 2020 before the LHC, the office added.

It stated that it appears that there is no order in field for release of Sadaat Amin, adding that when the case is heard again by the LHC on May 19, 2020, the federal government would vehemently oppose his release as he has been convicted for committing a most heinous offence.

The LHC the other day suspended sentence of a man convicted for being part of an international nexus of child pornographers and released him on bail.

A judicial magistrate on April 26, 2018 had awarded seven-year imprisonment to Saadat Amin of Sargodha under Section 22 of Prevention of Electronic Crime Act 2016 and also imposed a fine of Rs1.2 million on him.

Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Cell had arrested Amin on the complaint of Norwegian Embassy during 2017. The prosecution submitted that he was an active member of international racket operating online from Pakistan by engaging children having ages from 10 years to 12 years and used to transmit their pornographic pictures/videos outside the country against monetary benefit. It said more than 650,000 pictures and videos related to child pornography were recovered from the digital media recovered from his possession.

In an appeal before the high court, his counsel Rana Nadeem Ahmad had argued that the investigation held by the agency was faulty as it failed to arrest or investigate the alleged foreign agent in Norway.

The counsel said the appellant was behind bars since his arrest in 2017 while his main appeal against the sentence was still pending with the high court. He asked the court to suspend the sentence and release the appellant on bail as he was ready to furnish surety bonds.

Meanwhile, Justice Farooq Haider suspended the sentence and released him on bail against two surety bonds of Rs200,000 each.