FactFocus

Pakistan Prosecutes Over 400 Bright Youth on Blasphemy Charges Website of FactFocus is blocked in Pakistan. Here is alternate link storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc…

تحقیقاتی رپورٹس شائع کرنے والی ویب سائٹ 'فیکٹ فوکس' کی ایک حالیہ رپورٹ میں یہ بات سامنے آئی ہے کہ پاکستان میں 400 سے زائد نوجوان لڑکوں اور لڑکیوں کے خلاف توہینِ رسالت اور توہین مذہب کے قوانین کے تحت مقدمات چلائے جا رہے ہیں۔ تحقیقاتی صحافی احمد نورانی کی اپنی رپورٹ سے متعلق گفتگو۔

#Pakistan: CPJ has joined @RSF_inter and Free Press Unlimited in calling on Pakistan’s Prime Minister @CMShehbaz to end the intensifying harassment, arbitrary arrests, and deportations of Afghan journalists living in exile in Pakistan. #Afghanistan #PressFreedom cpj.org/2026/03/cpj-pa…

PAKISTAN: It’s been nearly one year. Five Baloch activists, Mahrang Baloch, Bebarg Zehri, Beebow Baloch, Shah Jee Sibghat Ullah and Gulzadi Baloch, remain in unlawful pretrial detention on trumped up charges simply for their peaceful activism. Inside Hudda Jail, Quetta, the activists are facing a secret trial in prison. They are also being denied adequate healthcare, with Mahrang’s health deteriorating significantly in detention. Amnesty International calls on the Balochistan authorities to immediately release all Baloch activists and drop all charges against them. 👉 Join our call for urgent action. 📝 amn.st/BalochActivist #ReleaseMahrangBaloch #ReleaseBalochActivists

On 9th March 2025, FactFocus reported that Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka, Additional Sessions Judge (East) Islamabad, appointed as the special judge for PECA cases was guilty of misconduct and had demonstrated bias in blasphemy related cases, where the only punishment is the death penalty. He was caught red-handed tampering with court records to expedite trials of individuals accused of blasphemy. On January 24, 2026, the same judge Afzal Majoka sentenced human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha to prison, with reports citing a combined 17-year sentence on accusations of "anti-state" social media posts. @ImaanZHazir @AdvHadiali Read detailed report by @Ahmad_Noorani storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc…

#Pakistan: CPJ is alarmed by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar’s vague threat of legal action against journalists and commentators who cross “red lines” when discussing foreign policy. Independent analysis and reporting of international affairs is critical to the public’s understanding of how global events impact domestic developments. Pakistani authorities must make clear they will not use broadly framed legal threats or political pressure to silence critical reporting on foreign policy. tribune.com.pk/story/2596814/… #PressFreedom #JournalismIsNotACrime @AzamNazeerTarar @CMShehbaz

#Pakistan: CPJ is alarmed that police beat and detained three women journalists in Islamabad. Ismat Jabeen, Farhat Fatima, and Sehrish Qureshi were assaulted on #InternationalWomensDay while covering #AuratMarch protests. Journalists must never be attacked for doing their jobs. Pakistani authorities must investigate, hold those responsible accountable, and ensure journalists can report freely and safely. tribune.com.pk/story/2596690/… #PressFreedom #JournalismIsNotACrime

#Pakistan : Police brutally beat and detained for several hours journalists Ismat Jabeen (DW), Farhat Fatima (APP) and Sehrish Qureshi (Independent Urdu) while they were covering a march for International Women’s Day. There is absolutely no excuse for these violent arrests.

Syed Ali Husnain was tortured so severely that he was unable to stand and missed his court hearings. Despite his rapidly declining condition, Adiala Jail medical staff provided only painkillers, without proper treatment or investigation. His postmortem confirmed clear signs of torture, including bruising to the groin. After his death, jail authorities conducted a bad-faith internal review, attempting to downplay the cause of death by citing an alleged “history of urinary retention” while ignoring extensive injuries to his groin and other parts of his body. Full Story t.co/ecEbX0kI7c

Prisoners accused of blasphemy in Pakistan wait many years in prison for their trials to be completed even if they are not guilty. Due to the sensitive nature of the allegations, they are kept separate from the other prisoners to prevent religiously motivated attacks. As a result of overcrowding and lack of facilities, such prisoners are frequently confined in extremely small, isolated spaces, comparable to cages, further worsening their physical and mental health. Full Story t.co/ecEbX0kI7c

Sohan Khan was entrapped and accused of blasphemy. During custody, he was brutally tortured by officials of the FIA Cyber Crime in collusion with members of the Blasphemy Business Group to extract a forced confession. He was transferred to prison authorities on May 22, 2023, and died just eight days later. According to fellow inmates and co-accused, Sohan was subjected to electric shocks and was sodomized with wooden sticks, leaving him with serious internal injuries. Full Story t.co/ecEbX0kI7c

All four young men, who were killed either immediately after being kidnapped or later in custody in various jails due to torture inflicted on them by BBG and FIA CCW (now NCCIA) officials, were entrapped by the honey-trapping queen “Imaan”. Full Story storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc…

Being a party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984), Pakistan enacted the Torture and Custodial Death Act in November 2022. However, the law is not effectively implemented in practice. FIA has exclusive authority under the supervision of NHCR to register and investigate cases of custodial torture by police or other law enforcement agencies. Only few cases have been accepted by the FIA after strict court orders or the intervention of influential government officials. Most blasphemy allegations related custodial deaths occur due to torture by FIA officers themselves. How the FIA can independently investigate its own personnel in a system like Pakistan remains a serious and unresolved question Full Story t.co/ecEbX0kI7c

Pakistan’s Blasphemy Racket: Entrapped, Tortured, Murdered and Forgotten by the State Qindeel Azeem @QindeelAzeem reports for FactFocus storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc…

Blasphemy accusations, trapping people to incriminate them under draconian blasphemy laws is a business in Pakistan. Data of 3 jails out of 116 jails show that around 400 youngsters have been jailed and trapped in Pakistan by blasphemy entrepreneurs.

FactFocus condemns blocking of news organization Lok Sujag’s website loksujag.com by Pakistani authorities after the website published a story about failure of SIFC, a project of Army Chief General Asim Munir. Pakistan must stop blocking independent news websites, end its ongoing actions against journalists, their families and media organizations, and cease favoring a single media group.

FactFocus Stories on Blasphemy Gang in Pakistan 1- Pakistan Prosecutes Over 400 Bright Youth on Blasphemy Charges FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 2- Five Blasphemy Accused, Including a Young Girl, Killed in Jails After Horrific FIA Torture FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 3- Lethal Blasphemy Business Group operates with impunity, killing citizens, violating laws through its facilitators in FIA, Judiciary, Media & Parliament FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 4- Islamabad Judge Majoka Accused Of Tampering Court Records in Blasphemy Case FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 5- Inside Pakistan’s Blasphemy Racket: How FIA Officials and Extremists Turned False Allegations into a Tool of Terror FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 6- Despite Denials in IHC, Evidence Unmasks FIA – Blasphemy Gang Nexus in Kidnapping and Trapping of youngsters FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 7- Blasphemy Business Group Triangle Nexus: Islamabad serves as the Nerve Center of a Nationwide Blasphemy Criminal Syndicate FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 8- Unmasking ‘Imaan’: Inside Pakistan’s Blasphemy Racket and the Woman Used Behind Hundreds of Traps and Killings FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 9- FIA Misled Islamabad High Court Using AI Caricature in Blasphemy Case, NADRA Officials Confirm Manipulation FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.… 10- Faith, Fear, and Political Power: How TLP Became the Guardian of the Blasphemy Racket FactFocus Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc… Haqaiq (Urdu) Link: storage.googleapis.com/qurium/haqaiq.…

2025: The Year FactFocus Broke Pakistan’s Biggest Taboos 2025 was a landmark year for FactFocus. Not only did we report on how Pakistan’s powerful Army Chief, General Asim Munir, was effectively ruling the country like a jungle, we also fully exposed the notorious Blasphemy Business Group—a criminal racket that had long operated in the shadows. For decades, reporting on military generals and their corruption was considered an absolute taboo in Pakistan. FactFocus broke that silence. By investigating and publishing details about the vast wealth accumulated by former Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during his tenure, and by revealing how General Asim Munir appeared to be moving in the same direction, FactFocus shattered long-standing red lines. Our team in Pakistan did extraordinary work to uncover these facts and bring them to the public. Discussion of blasphemy—and even mentioning individuals accused of blasphemy—has historically been one of the most dangerous taboos in Pakistani society. People avoided the subject out of fear. FactFocus broke this silence as well by exposing a blasphemy business gang operating across Pakistan and revealing how hundreds of young people were imprisoned through fabricated blasphemy cases. Initially, FactFocus’s reporting was ignored by both mainstream and digital media. But as we continued to publish evidence-based investigations, the story could no longer be suppressed. Mainstream and digital media began discussing the scandal, and the Islamabad High Court—through Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan—took notice, ordering the formation of a commission to ascertain the facts and circumstances under which these cases were registered. Qindeel Azeem @QindeelAzeem, who played a leading role in investigating the blasphemy gang, was subjected to an unprecedented campaign of online bullying and harassment—the worst of its kind in Pakistan’s media history. Despite this, FactFocus did not retreat and continued its reporting. FactFocus will continue to challenge entrenched power, break taboos, and expose injustice through long-form investigative journalism—not only in the coming year, but in the years ahead.

FactFocus is seeking artists who can volunteer their time and support our work on Blasphemy injustice in Pakistan through creative artwork for our stories. DM us for a confidential discussion.

Faith, Fear, and Political Power: How TLP Became the Guardian of the Blasphemy Racket Qindeel Azeem reports for FactFocus @QindeelAzeem storage.googleapis.com/qurium/factfoc…