The summons have been issued in con-
nection with the ongoing feud between
PPP and Ritchie which seemed to have
begun with her “slanderous” remarks
against Benazir Bhutto, but what the
blogger claims likely stem from “dirt”
she has on the party.
PPP District president in Islamabad, Ad-
vocate Shakeel Abbasi, in a conversation
with Geo News said that the sessions
judge was approached after the FIA did
not file a case against Ritchie for her re-
marks against the late PPP leader.
“Cynthia Ritchie, FIA and the Islamabad
SSP have been summoned on my request
under Section 22-A [of the Code of Crim-
inal Procedure],” he said.
According to the CrPC, the Justice of
Peace is a district and sessions judge or
an additional district and sessions judge
nominated by the former assigned the additional task of keeping peace in the area.
The judge “on receipt of information of
the occurrence of any incident involv-
ing a breach of the peace or of the com-
mission of any offence within such local
area” will make inquiries into the matter.
His powers extend to handling com-
plaints, issuance of recommendations to
the duty police officers regarding regis-
tration of criminal cases, and transfer of
investigation from one officer to another.
Ritchie’s letter to FIA.
Meanwhile, contents of a letter Ritch-
ie wrote to the FIA after a complaint
was filed against her by the PPP, have
emerged.
“I am a freelancer and pay taxes to FBR
and report my income to IRS in USA. I
am not on government payroll. I take projects (such as KP Dept of Archaeology/
Engro/and some cleared NGOS) as mat-
ters of personal and professional inter-
est,” she wrote, adding that she has been
in Pakistan for “10+ years”.
She said she has been working on an “in-
vestigative film”.
“To be fair, I’ve wanted to do a docu-
mentary on Bilawal as a potential future
leader. I have no interest in fighting PPP,”
Ritchie said.
Last week, the PPP advocate had moved
a complaint with the FIA’s cybercrime
wing against Ritchie for her “slanderous”
remarks against late party leader Benazir Bhutto.
“Through this application, it is brought
to your notice that a woman, who goes
by the name of Cynthia D Ritchie on
Twitter has passed extremely derogatory
and slanderous remarks about Shaheed
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, through her
Twitter handle/account,” the letter dated
May 28 read.
“Her remarks being false, untrue, def-
amating and slanderous as they are, have caused immense pain and agony to the millions across Pakistan who revere and hold Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in high esteem,” it said.
“Your office is requested to take im-
mediate action and initiate proceedings
against this woman as prescribed by the
law and under your mandate. A photo-
copy of the tweet, a true portrayal of her
sick and disgusting mind is attached with
the application,” the letter added.
Ritchie-PPP spat takes dark turn.
A day earlier, Ritchie made explosive
claims, accusing former interior minister
Rehman Malik of raping her; in a video
broadcast live on Facebook.
She alsoaccused former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin of “physically manhandling” her at a separate occasion.
The US blogger further claimed she was
a victim of cyber harassment by various
members and supporters of the PPP.
Malik has vehemently denied the accusa-
tion, terming it “baseless, shameful, and
inappropriate”.
The PPP leader’s spokesman, in a state-
ment, said that the purpose behind the US blogger’s allegations was to damage the reputation of Malik.
“The US woman made the inappropriate
allegations against Rehman Malik upon
the instigation of a certain individual or a group,” said the spokesman on behalf of the former interior minister.
Gillani, too, has flatly denied the allega-
tions.
“Can a prime minister ever commit such
an act at the Aiwan-e-Sadr?”
“What was the lady levelling such ac-
cusations doing at the Aiwan-e-Sadr?”
he continued, adding: “Who gave her the
right to accuse politicians like this?”
He said responding to such statements
would be “contemptuous”.
He noted that Ritchie had recently lev-
elled several accusations at former Paki-
stani prime minister and late party leader Benazir Bhutto and “no one can tolerate such accusations”.
“I am not worried about what was said
about me. I am more concerned about the baseless accusations levelled at Shaheed Benazir,” Gillani said.
By Syed Tauqeer Zaidi
