When Canadian columnist Anthony Furey received an email said to be from <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-slammed-after-he-tweets-about-everything-in-myanmar-but-rohingya-crisis-182891">Twitter's legal team </a>telling him he may have broken a slew of Pakistani laws, his first instinct was to dismiss it as spam.

But after Googling the relevant sections of Pakistan's penal code, the Toronto Sun op-ed editor was startled to learn he stood accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammad -- a crime punishable by death in the Islamic republic -- and Twitter later confirmed the correspondence was genuine.&nbsp;

His perceived offence was to post cartoons of the prophet several years ago.

Furey and two prominent critics of extremism in Islam say they are "shocked" to have received notices by the social media giant this past week over alleged violations of Islamabad's laws, despite having no apparent connection to the South Asian country.

They say the notices amount to an effort to stifle their voices -- a charge Twitter denies, arguing the notices came about as a result of "valid requests from an authorized entity," understood to mean Pakistan, helped users "to take measures to protect their interests," and the process is not unique to any one country.

But Furey is the third prominent user in the space of days to publicly complain about receiving a message linked to Pakistan.

The other two are Saudi-Canadian activist Ensaf Haidar and Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, a progressive Muslim scholar from Australia who was born in Iran.

Both are outspoken critics of religious extremism and have accused the social media giant of helping to silence progressive ideas within Islam.

'Validates blasphemy laws'

Furey, who detailed his experience in a column for his newspaper on Saturday, told AFP: "I'm somewhat alarmed that Twitter would even allow a country to make a complaint like this, as it almost validates their absurd blasphemy laws."

The tweet in question was a collage of cartoons of Mohammad that he posted four years ago.

"Looking back, I remember I did it right after there had been an ISIS-inspired attack in retaliation over the cartoons," Furey wrote in his column, adding he had not posted similar material before or since.

Haidar, who is the wife of Saudi writer Raif Badawi who was jailed in his country in 2012 for charges including apostasy, told AFP: "I'm very shocked by Twitter. They want to silence any voice telling the truth."&nbsp;

Twitter wrote to her concerning an August tweet which showed a woman wearing the Islamic full veil, with the caption: "Retweet if you're against niqab."

A notice sent to her and seen by AFP advised her that Twitter had received official correspondence saying she could be violating Pakistani law for the tweet, adding: "You may wish to consult legal counsel about this matter."

Tawhidi meanwhile was sent a similar notice flagging a tweet that called on Australian police to investigate extremism in mosques following a deadly knife attack in Melbourne in November.

The scholar attached the legal notice sent to him by Twitter informing him of possible violations of Pakistani law and tweeted: "I am not from Pakistan nor am I a Pakistani citizen.&nbsp;

"Pakistan has no authority over what I say. Get out of here."

Chilling effect

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Twitter told AFP: "In our continuing effort to make our services available to people everywhere, if we receive a valid requests from an authorized entity, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time."&nbsp;

The spokesperson added: "We notify users so that they have the opportunity to review the legal request, and the option to take measures to protect their interests."

Pakistan has previously threatened to block Twitter if the company did not remove content its government found offensive.

It banned Facebook for hosting allegedly blasphemous content for two weeks in 2010 while YouTube was unavailable from 2012 to 2016 over an amateur film about the Prophet Mohammad that led to global riots.

Furey told AFP that although he was taken aback by the notice, "I'm at least glad they brought it to my attention that the Pakistan government has their eye on me."

But he added: "One troubling consequence to all of this is that even people in countries without these blasphemy laws may start to self-censor for fear of the reach foreign governments will have over them in the online world."

When Canadian columnist Anthony Furey received an email said to be from Twitter's legal team telling him he may have broken a slew of Pakistani laws, his first instinct was to dismiss it as spam.

When Canadian columnist Anthony Furey received an email said to be from Twitter's legal team telling him he may have broken a slew of Pakistani laws, his first instinct was to dismiss it as spam. But after Googling the relevant sections of Pakistan's penal code, the Toronto Sun op-ed editor was startled to learn he stood accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammad -- a crime punishable by death in the Islamic republic -- and Twitter later confirmed the correspondence was genuine. His perceived offence was to post cartoons of the prophet several years ago. Furey and two prominent critics of extremism in Islam say they are "shocked" to have received notices by the social media giant this past week over alleged violations of Islamabad's laws, despite having no apparent connection to the South Asian country. They say the notices amount to an effort to stifle their voices -- a charge Twitter denies, arguing the notices came about as a result of "valid requests from an authorized entity," understood to mean Pakistan, helped users "to take measures to protect their interests," and the process is not unique to any one country. But Furey is the third prominent user in the space of days to publicly complain about receiving a message linked to Pakistan. The other two are Saudi-Canadian activist Ensaf Haidar and Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, a progressive Muslim scholar from Australia who was born in Iran. Both are outspoken critics of religious extremism and have accused the social media giant of helping to silence progressive ideas within Islam. 'Validates blasphemy laws' Furey, who detailed his experience in a column for his newspaper on Saturday, told AFP: "I'm somewhat alarmed that Twitter would even allow a country to make a complaint like this, as it almost validates their absurd blasphemy laws." The tweet in question was a collage of cartoons of Mohammad that he posted four years ago. "Looking back, I remember I did it right after there had been an ISIS-inspired attack in retaliation over the cartoons," Furey wrote in his column, adding he had not posted similar material before or since. Haidar, who is the wife of Saudi writer Raif Badawi who was jailed in his country in 2012 for charges including apostasy, told AFP: "I'm very shocked by Twitter. They want to silence any voice telling the truth." Twitter wrote to her concerning an August tweet which showed a woman wearing the Islamic full veil, with the caption: "Retweet if you're against niqab." A notice sent to her and seen by AFP advised her that Twitter had received official correspondence saying she could be violating Pakistani law for the tweet, adding: "You may wish to consult legal counsel about this matter." Tawhidi meanwhile was sent a similar notice flagging a tweet that called on Australian police to investigate extremism in mosques following a deadly knife attack in Melbourne in November. The scholar attached the legal notice sent to him by Twitter informing him of possible violations of Pakistani law and tweeted: "I am not from Pakistan nor am I a Pakistani citizen. "Pakistan has no authority over what I say. Get out of here." Chilling effect Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Twitter told AFP: "In our continuing effort to make our services available to people everywhere, if we receive a valid requests from an authorized entity, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time." The spokesperson added: "We notify users so that they have the opportunity to review the legal request, and the option to take measures to protect their interests." Pakistan has previously threatened to block Twitter if the company did not remove content its government found offensive. It banned Facebook for hosting allegedly blasphemous content for two weeks in 2010 while YouTube was unavailable from 2012 to 2016 over an amateur film about the Prophet Mohammad that led to global riots. Furey told AFP that although he was taken aback by the notice, "I'm at least glad they brought it to my attention that the Pakistan government has their eye on me." But he added: "One troubling consequence to all of this is that even people in countries without these blasphemy laws may start to self-censor for fear of the reach foreign governments will have over them in the online world."

Twitter warns global users their tweets violate Pakistani law

The first information report (FIR) registered against the &quot;killers&quot; of social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, was transformed into a non-compoundable FIR. This makes it impossible for Qandeels&#39;s family to pardon her killers, reported Pakistani daily, Dawn. 
 
Dawn quoted a senior police officer, involved with the investigation of the case, as saying that Sections 311 and 305 of the Pakistan Penal Code has been added to the FIR. 
 
&quot;Section 305 states that the &#39;wali&#39; will be the heirs of the victim, but will exclude the accused or convict in case of qatl-i-amd (wilful murder) if committed in the name or on the pretext of honour. According to Section 311, notwithstanding anything contained in Section 309 or Section 310... the court may, having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, punish an offender against whom the right of qisas has been waived or compounded with death, or imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term of which may extend to fourteen years as ta&#39;zir,&quot; the newspaper explained the two sections of Pakistani law framed specifically to deal with &quot;honour killing&quot; cases. 
 
&ldquo;There cannot be an agreement (after this). These sections were created to end karo-kari (honour killing). Now that they have added them to the FIR, the victim&#39;s family cannot forgive the killers as the state has become a complainant. It will be taken as a murder against the state,&rdquo; Dawn quoted advocate Balak Shair Khosa.&nbsp; 
 
In some communities, especially tribal ones, after a murder there is a practice of demanding blood money or forgiving the murderer. In cases of honour killings, the murderer is generally pardoned. Thus, in this case, introduction of these two sections are very important. 
 
In the early hours of Saturday, Qandeel Baloch, who was a model and an actress, was strangled to death in her house in Multan&#39;s Karimabad area. Her father claimed that it was an honour killing by her younger brother, Waseem.&nbsp; 
 
In a press conference, where Waseem was accompanied by police, he confessed that he had drugged and strangled Qandeel. He tried to reason the murder by saying that &ldquo;she brought dishonour to the Baloch name&rdquo; by posting indecent videos and statements on social media. 
 
Pakistan police said today that they were investigating Mufti Abdul Qavi, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf religious wing&#39;s head, who was censured for appearing in &ldquo;selfie&rdquo; photographs with Qandeel. Qavi was suspended from Ruet-i-Hilal committee after the photographs were published. 
 
Azhar Ikram, the police chief in the town of Multan, where Baloch was killed, told Reuters: &quot;We have decided to widen the scope of the investigation and include Mufti Abdul Qavi in the probe.&quot; Although Qavi has denied any involvement in the murder, today he told Reuters he would present himself to police for questioning if summoned.&nbsp; 
 
Baloch&#39;s other brother, Mohammad Aslam, a junior army officer, is also being investigated by the police. After his daughter&#39;s death Qandeel&#39;s father, Mohammad Azeem, had filed a police report against both his sons. He had alleged that Aslam had encouraged Waseem to carry out the murder. 
 
Police have not commented on Aslam&#39;s role, and according to Dawn today he was unavailable for comment. 
 
(WION)

Qandeel's brother Waseem had confessed in a press conference that he had killed his sister to save his family from disgrace

The first information report (FIR) registered against the "killers" of social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, was transformed into a non-compoundable FIR. This makes it impossible for Qandeels's family to pardon her killers, reported Pakistani daily, Dawn. Dawn quoted a senior police officer, involved with the investigation of the case, as saying that Sections 311 and 305 of the Pakistan Penal Code has been added to the FIR. "Section 305 states that the 'wali' will be the heirs of the victim, but will exclude the accused or convict in case of qatl-i-amd (wilful murder) if committed in the name or on the pretext of honour. According to Section 311, notwithstanding anything contained in Section 309 or Section 310... the court may, having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, punish an offender against whom the right of qisas has been waived or compounded with death, or imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term of which may extend to fourteen years as ta'zir," the newspaper explained the two sections of Pakistani law framed specifically to deal with "honour killing" cases. “There cannot be an agreement (after this). These sections were created to end karo-kari (honour killing). Now that they have added them to the FIR, the victim's family cannot forgive the killers as the state has become a complainant. It will be taken as a murder against the state,” Dawn quoted advocate Balak Shair Khosa. In some communities, especially tribal ones, after a murder there is a practice of demanding blood money or forgiving the murderer. In cases of honour killings, the murderer is generally pardoned. Thus, in this case, introduction of these two sections are very important. In the early hours of Saturday, Qandeel Baloch, who was a model and an actress, was strangled to death in her house in Multan's Karimabad area. Her father claimed that it was an honour killing by her younger brother, Waseem. In a press conference, where Waseem was accompanied by police, he confessed that he had drugged and strangled Qandeel. He tried to reason the murder by saying that “she brought dishonour to the Baloch name” by posting indecent videos and statements on social media. Pakistan police said today that they were investigating Mufti Abdul Qavi, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf religious wing's head, who was censured for appearing in “selfie” photographs with Qandeel. Qavi was suspended from Ruet-i-Hilal committee after the photographs were published. Azhar Ikram, the police chief in the town of Multan, where Baloch was killed, told Reuters: "We have decided to widen the scope of the investigation and include Mufti Abdul Qavi in the probe." Although Qavi has denied any involvement in the murder, today he told Reuters he would present himself to police for questioning if summoned. Baloch's other brother, Mohammad Aslam, a junior army officer, is also being investigated by the police. After his daughter's death Qandeel's father, Mohammad Azeem, had filed a police report against both his sons. He had alleged that Aslam had encouraged Waseem to carry out the murder. Police have not commented on Aslam's role, and according to Dawn today he was unavailable for comment. (WION)

State becomes complainant in Qandeel Baloch case, making it impossible for family to pardon murderer

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Twitter warns global users their tweets violate Pakistani law

State becomes complainant in Qandeel Baloch case, making it impossible for family to pardon murderer