The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

Custody is extended for man on charges of cyber terrorism

A court in Pakistan has allowed investigat­ors to question a man in their custody for four more days about his role in spreading misinforma­tion that sparked rioting in the UK.

The court’s decision came a day after authoritie­s charged the suspect Farhan Asif, 32, with cyber terrorism following his arrest from his home in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province.

Asif, who is a freelance web developer, was produced before the court amid tight security. He was not allowed to talk to the media.

Kiran Muqeem, a prosecutor for the Federal Investigat­ion Agency (FIA), told the court that Asif did not co-operate with officers after the same court the previous day allowed them to question him for a day. They demanded his custody for two weeks but the court said it would only allow it for four more days.

Mr Muqeem later told reporters that Asif disseminat­ed fake news and caused riots in parts of the UK.

Asif is accused of spreading misinforma­tion online about the British teenage suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three girls and injured 10 other people on July 29 at a dance class in Southport.

The false informatio­n claimed that the suspect was a recently arrived asylum-seeker and had a name that suggested he was Muslim. After the misinforma­tion led to a mob attacking a mosque near the site of the stabbing the next day, police took the unusual step of clarifying that the suspect was UK-born.

British media has widely reported that his parents are from Rwanda and are said to have Christian beliefs. Channel3 Now, an account on the X social media platform that purports to be a news channel, was one of the first outlets to report the false name, Ali Al-Shakati.