A petition to free a Canadian student Hamza Ahmad Khan who is charged on charges ofPrevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) is filed in a special court in Lahore. His application in the petition challenges the validity of his arrest by National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) at the hands of his counsel Advocate Asad Jamal. Hamza was a PhD student at the University of Toronto and he was in the field in Lahore doing fieldwork when he was suddenly arrested. The hearing of the case was to be heard and the student is being held in Lahore District (Camp) Jail.
What Are the Timeline Discrepancies in the FIR?
The petition shows an inconsistency with regards to the location of Hamza before his formal arrest. Hamza disappeared as he was a passenger of a Yango taxi between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM on the night between February 18 and 19. But the NCCIA did not hold a registration of the First Information Report (FIR) until February 21, at 10:45 AM.
In the 48 hours that Hamza was missing, his family and friends were in great distress. Besides, the petition confirms that the family and the legal team have been left in the dark regarding the nature of the charges. Although they have repeatedly requested it, the authorities have refused to provide them with the alleged social media posts that were annexed to the FIR.
Mysteriously Missing Canadian National Comes into Light…..
— Israr Ahmed Rajpoot (@ia_rajpoot) February 23, 2026
National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) booked Canadian National of Pakistani Origin, academic and social media activist @Hamzakk under PECA after four days of disappearing mysteriously from Lahore. pic.twitter.com/fOVZqO6f6Q
Why Do Experts Call the Detention Illegal?
The arrest of Hamza has received a very strong condemnation among legal experts as well as digital rights activists. According to advocate Asad Jamal, it is absolutely unlawful to retain a citizen in custody of almost three days without an FIR. An accused individual should be brought before a magistrate with 24 hours of arrest; failure to do so will result in an unconstitutional detention.
Digital rights activist Usama Khilji further claimed that the NCCIA had entirely ignored standard PECA procedures. The law provides that an investigation should precede the case, there should be a notice sent to the accused and an opportunity provided to hear the case before the framing of formal charges. The right to a fair trial was highly questioned in the case of Hamza considering the fact that the process of due process was not respected.
Under Which PECA Sections Was Hamza Booked?
The FIR was registered against Hamza by the NCCIA in Sections 20, 24 and 26A of PECA 2016. These are related to crimes committed against the dignity of a natural person, cyberstalking and the dissemination of fake information.
Since these are not cases of terrorism, critical infrastructure crimes, or other cases of emergency national security issues, the legal community believes that the 48-hour period in which Hamza was out of reach is quite dubious and lacks legal basis. The petition hopes that the precise and full nature of the charges be immediately revealed to the defense.
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