Karachi court convicts youth for spreading false material on social media, sentences him to one year but releases on probation.

A Karachi judicial magistrate, Gulraiz Memon, convicted a 26‑ to 27‑year‑old man named Muhammad Ibrahim for spreading false and fabricated information on social media that could incite attacks on oil tankers. The offence was alleged to have occurred in February 2025 during a Sindhi nationalist protest against a new canal project. The court sentenced Ibrahim to one year imprisonment under Section 26‑A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and fined him Rs10,000. He was also given a surety bond of Rs100,000 and directed to maintain good conduct for a probation period of one year, supervised by a probation officer in Karachi East. Ibrahim was the only adult in his family and said the offence was committed due to lack of knowledge and illiteracy. The judge noted that he had no prior criminal record and was a first‑time offender, and that sending him to prison alongside hardened criminals would hinder modern penal reform. During the trial, the prosecution presented forensic evidence from a Facebook account named “Imran Sindhi.” The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency had raided Ibrahim’s location on February 27, recovered his mobile phone and extracted cached data that allegedly contained anti‑state propaganda. Ibrahim denied the allegations and said he was falsely implicated but did not testify on oath. The magistrate rejected his defence, ruling that the evidence established beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt that he knowingly transmitted anti‑state material. The case was registered under Section 26‑A of the Peca read with Sections 506 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.