ISF voices concern over passage of PECB

PESHAWAR: The activists of Insaf Students Federation (ISF) have voiced concern over the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (PECB) commonly known as Cybercrime bill and said the legislation would suppress freedom of expression.

Speaking at a news conference at Press Club on Monday, ISF local head Shahid Khattak said the passage of PECB from the National Assembly had disappointed the people.Flanked by Ashfaq Marwat, ISF district Peshawar, Iqbal Dawar, president ISF Agriculture University Peshawar and Haseeb Khattak, president ISF Technical College Peshawar, he appealed the Supreme Court to declare the proposed law as null and void.

The student leader said that it was illogical to pass such bill. He said rules had been defined by Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (PEMRA) in this regard, but the introduction of PECB was an unnecessary step in that context.

He called upon the legislators, especially from KP, Balochistan and Sindh to unanimously pass a bill against the PECB 2015.He said their colleague Haseeb Khan, who is gold medalist, was sentenced for 14 years for updating material on social media.Shahid Khattak appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali to take step for the release of their interned colleague.