On November 28, a judicial magistrate in Lahore gave the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) four-day physical remand of Siasat.pk journalist and YouTuber Sohrab Barkat. On November 26, Barkat was arrested at Islamabad International Airport.
According to Dawn, the NCCIA had produced Barkat before the judicial magistrate and sought a 30-day physical remand. Four-day remand was granted. Additionally, Magistrate Naeem Wattoo, in his order, said that Barkat had been arrested in a First Information Report (FIR) registered on August 5, and in an inquiry against him, the report stated, adding that Barkat had been declared a proclaimed offender.
“Therefore, it cannot be said that this case was registered for justifying his arrest on alleged offloading,” Dawn quoted the magistrate.
A criminal complaint was registered on August 5 at the NCCIA Police Station in Lahore. The complaint was filed by Asif Hussain, Sub-Inspector, NCCIA, Lahore, against Barkat and Sanam Javaid, a PTI activist. The charges were registered under Sections 9, 10, 20, and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, read with Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
According to the FIR, in relation to an enquiry registered on May 27, 2025, during “cyber patrolling” regarding “spreading misinformation within Pakistan society.” In the accounts cited was an interview with Sanam Javaid on Siasat.pk, which, per the FIR, was “operated” by Barkat.
According to the FIR, by uploading the interview on his channel, Barkat had caused fear in the public. It stated that during the inquiry, Barkat and Javaid were found “spreading disinformation to incite violence, and to create a sense of fear, panic and insecurity in the general public […]”
In a Facebook post by Siasat.pk, his counsel, Barrister Saad Rasool, detailed in a video that Barkat was arrested by the Federal Investigations Agency (FIA) “unlawfully” while he was traveling abroad to attend an international United Nations conference on climate change for the continuation of his MPhil.
According to Rasool, when Barkat received the invitation to attend the conference, they found out that his name had been placed on the Provincial National Identification List (PNIL), a list that bars individuals from leaving the country by the FIA. They did not know the reason for this placement. Attempts to obtain clarification from the FIA were met with no response, Rasool said.
Consequently, a writ petition was filed with the Islamabad High Court requesting that the court direct the FIA to disclose the grounds for including his name on the PNIL and to reveal any investigation or legal proceedings against him. When the IHC called for the FIA’s response, it was revealed that Barkat’s inclusion on the PNIL had been unlawful — no proper legal procedure had been followed — leading the court to order the removal of his name from the list and to permit him to attend the conference and then return to Pakistan.
Rasool shared that despite the court’s order, the FIA failed to comply and remove the name from the PNIL. A contempt petition was then filed with the Islamabad High Court, prompting the FIA on November 24, an official letter by the FIA was submitted to the court stating that the order had been complied with, that Barkat was not on any PNIL or similar list preventing his departure, and that no proceedings against him remained pending with the FIA.
Following this, the IHC disposed of contempt proceedings, and Barkat was permitted to attend the conference. Barkat proceeded to Islamabad, with the court order and FIA letter, where FIA officials present there nevertheless informed him that his name still appeared on their internal system as being on the PNIL. When the court’s certified copy and the FIA’s confirmation letter were presented, the officials acknowledged the documents; however, they stated that because the name had not been updated in their system, they would not permit him to travel and would instead place him under arrest.
In a post on X, Siasat.pk CEO Adeel Habib offered an acknowledgment of Barkat’s integrity and loyalty to the organization, recalling that he declined multiple lucrative job offers and even volunteered to work without pay during difficult times for the platform.
Speaking to PPF, Habib said that Barkat was arrested in a “baseless case.” He claims that the FIR was filed without any substantial evidence, as Barkat had only conducted an interview with Sanam Javaid, and the statement in the FIR is also attributed to Sanam Javaid, with no personal involvement or statement from Barkat himself.
