A Pakistani man accused of spreading disinformation thought to have fuelled anti-immigration riots in Britain has been released by authorities, his lawyer said.
Farhan Asif was accused of publishing an article falsely claiming that a Muslim asylum seeker was behind a deadly knife attack on children in the United Kingdom.
Farhan was arrested last week by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and remanded in custody twice on charges of cyber terrorism, but was released on Monday after appearing at a court in Lahore.
“The FIA have dropped all charges and released him after being unable to find evidence against him,” Farhan’s lawyer, Mumtaz Hussain said.
FIA officials had alleged that he ran Channel3Now, a clickbait website that presents itself as a news website.
The article with the false information was published on Channel3Now just hours after the attack. It was widely cited in viral social media posts, but the website is no longer accessible.
After his release, Farhan told local media that he had reshared a post on Twitter that contained false information and deleted it after seeing a local police statement.
He was taking a break from social media, he added.
More than a dozen English towns and cities saw unrest and riots after the July 29 knife attack that killed three girls during a dance class in Southport.
The man charged with murder and attempted murder over the stabbing spree, Axel Rudakubana, was born in Britain to parents who hail from Rwanda, an overwhelmingly Christian country.
Officials have blamed far-right elements for helping to stir up the disorder. — AFP
