Families seek investigation into alleged network behind Pakistan cyber blasphemy cases

Families of people accused in Pakistan's cyber blasphemy cases have called for a fuller investigation into an alleged extortion network accused of honey-trapping and blackmail.

At a press conference in Islamabad, lawyers, rights activists and family members, represented by advocacy group VOICE, urged authorities and courts to handle the cases through due legal process.

What is the alleged cyber blasphemy extortion network in Pakistan?

VOICE says a group referred to as the "Blasphemy Business Group" has targeted hundreds of Pakistanis through honey-trapping and false blasphemy accusations used to extort money. According to a VOICE statement, 443 people were targeted in cyber blasphemy cases between 2019 and 2026 across Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Karachi, though the figures have not been independently verified by government authorities.

Lahore accounted for 236 of these cases, followed by Islamabad with 86, Rawalpindi with 65 and Karachi with 56. Lawyer Usman Warraich, who represents some of the families, said the group had been identified by Pakistan's Special Branch and mentioned in a European Commission report on Pakistan's GSP Plus trade status.

How does the alleged honey-trapping scheme work?

According to the VOICE statement, the EU report alleged that the group operated more than 800 online accounts to honey-trap and extort men and women. It said the network was linked to as many as 300 cases involving alleged false blasphemy accusations by 2026, and it raised concerns about alleged FIA facilitation, procedural delays and a lack of safeguards.

Warraich alleged that the Federal Investigation Agency had at one point facilitated members of the network, and that some officials were later removed. He said hundreds of cases were registered in 2024 and 2025 before a crackdown reduced the numbers.

The VOICE statement also cited a Reuters report published on 6 August, which referred to a commission report recording 13 new blasphemy cases in 2026, compared with higher numbers in previous years. It said the alleged network had exploited religious sentiment against people who criticised state institutions and government policies.

What has the Islamabad High Court ordered in the case?

Warraich said a petition filed before the Islamabad High Court in August 2024 had been heard 42 times before Justice Ijaz Ishaq Khan. He said the judge ordered on 15 July 2025 that the government form an inquiry commission within a month to examine allegations of honey-trapping, possible FIA complicity and evidence tampering, without affecting cases already before the courts.

Proceedings were later affected by a status quo order after a new divisional bench was formed. The VOICE statement said the matter had since been adjourned five times, most recently due to the unavailability of a bench, with the next hearing scheduled for 9 September 2026.

Former senator Farhat Ullah Babar said the press conference aimed to remind authorities of the court order and push for the legal process to proceed. He questioned why a stay on Justice Khan's order had not been lifted, why the court-ordered commission had not been formed, and why the Senate's Functional Committee on Human Rights had removed the matter from its agenda on 17 and 28 July, allegedly following intervention by "a powerful minister," a claim that could not be independently verified.

What happened in the murder case of Abdullah Shah?

Warraich said a woman identified as Komal Ismail had been implicated in the killing of Abdullah Shah. An inquiry commission was formed to examine why a blasphemy case was registered against Shah's father, Amir Shah, and why he later said he did not wish to pursue his son's murder case.

Warraich said a joint investigation team had not provided an update for more than a year. The VOICE statement said the Islamabad High Court ordered the FIA and police on 3 June 2025 to reopen aspects of the case, after which some individuals were removed from the inquiry, a decision the families are now challenging.

Human rights activist Tahira Abdullah, who attended alongside Farzana Bari, family members and journalists, referred to lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha. Organisers said the two had represented more than 60 people accused in cyber blasphemy cases who remain incarcerated.

The mother of one accused man said her son, a former security guard at Dubai International Airport, was contacted through Facebook Messenger by a woman she identified as Komal Ismail, also known as Iman. She alleged he was confronted after meeting the woman at a KFC outlet following his return to Pakistan, and said he had spent two and a half years in jail, during which she suffered a heart attack.

What are families and rights groups demanding?

According to VOICE, 60 accused people have secured bail in Islamabad, 48 in Karachi and more than six in Lahore. It said the Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench had acquitted six people, with one further acquittal recorded in Islamabad, and it questioned why an Islamabad High Court arrest warrant for Komal Ismail had allegedly not been executed.

VOICE presented an 11-point set of demands. These include reinvestigating pending cases involving alleged honey-trapping, murder and threats on their merits, ensuring the Islamabad High Court petition is heard at its 9 September hearing, and holding a transparent inquiry into the Abdullah Shah murder case.

The group also called for an impartial investigation into the alleged "Blasphemy Business Group," representation for affected families before the Senate committee and action against those it says are using social media to make false blasphemy accusations. VOICE said it was seeking equal access to justice for the accused and accountability for anyone found to have misused blasphemy laws.