Meesha Shafi shares her picture of “not going to jail”
FIA's submission does not imply that the matter has been settled, the final verdict has yet to be announced by the court.
KARACHI: Despite being guilty of falsely accusing Pakistani singer, Ali Zafar and dragging him into court, Meesha Shafi shared her photo on Twitter saying that she is “not going to jail”.
Her Twitter came after the news of her being sentenced to three years of jail started making rounds on social media.
She took to Twitter to share her picture of not going to prison.
However, it should be noted that the FIA’s submission of an inquiry paper, however, does not imply that the matter has been settled.
related: Harassment case: The Supreme Court grants singer Mesha Shafi’s appeal for a preliminary hearing
The news started making rounds on social media after a report was published in the British tabloid The Daily Mail.
The report’s headline reads, “A Pakistani singer whose accusations that a pop star groped her sparked the country’s #MeToo movement faces three years in jail for ‘criminal defamation’ over damage to his reputation”
relevant: Mesha in hot water over false accusations against Ali Zafar
Many Indian news platforms including Times of India and ZeeNews misinterpreted the report to mean that a verdict has been given in Ali’s favor.
But the news was later debunked by the female singer, Meesha, on Monday. She also shared a screenshot of Samaa Digital news in which the news of Meesha going to jail was refuted.
She wrote in the Instagram post that “speaking up is even harder than being harassed”.
She continued, “this is why so many suffer in silence. Sending strength and solidarity to all those who speak up and risk their present to make way for a better future for all.”
However, her lawyer also debunked the news and clarified that Shafi has not been sentenced to three years in prison by the trial court. “Let there be no misunderstanding: No such decision has been given by any Pakistani court,” he said in a tweet.
This is with ref to the fake news claiming that my client Meesha Shafi has been sentenced to 3 yrs imprisonment.
No such verdict has been passed by trial court in the frivolous criminal defamation case instituted by Ali Zafar against several women.
Read complete statement below pic.twitter.com/49vRSXtvFe— Asad Jamal (@LegalPolitical) March 15, 2021
In a Twitter post in 2018, Meesha accused fellow singer Ali Zafar of harassment, which he has categorically refuted. Both of them have filed lawsuits against each other in separate jurisdictions, with Ali accusing Meesha of sexual harassment and filing a defamation suit against him.
A Lahore judicial magistrate summoned Shafi on March 11 in the case filed against her by Zafar under the Prevention Against Cybercrime Act. He has accused her, as well as a number of others, including rapper Ali Gul Pir and actor Iffat Omer, of waging a social media “smear attack” against him.
Moreover, earlier in January, the Supreme Court approved Shafi’s petition for a formal hearing, requesting that the provincial ombudsperson for the rights of women at work rehear her complaint.
