The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Sunday extended the remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati, ordering him to be produced before the court again today (Monday) in the case related to his controversial tweets targetting state institutions.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) brought Swati to the court following the completion of his one-day physical remand, with his lawyer Babar Awan and PTI leaders and senators also present in the courtroom. The case was heard by Duty Magistrate Shoaib Akhtar with Swati’s tweet being read in court by the prosecutor who then proceeded to request a 14-day extension of the accused’s remand. The prosecutor argued that an extension was required for the investigation officer to recover the PTI leader’s cell phone which was used to post the controversial tweet.
In response, the accused’s counsel then summoned his cell phone in court, while making him show his injured leg and toe to the judge. Babar Awan argued that his client should not be remanded further due to his injury, adding that the government should “keep an eye on Swat instead of Swati”. The duty magistrate, however, extended the remand by one more day, handing over the accused to the FIA and directing him to appear before the court once again. Before his court appearance, Swati, while speaking to the media, had accused Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and director general FIA, claiming they had registered a first information report (FIR) against him and handed him over to agencies who had tortured him.
“I will bring them forward according to the constitution. I will take DG FIA to court and will file a case against the director Cybercrime Wing and his staff as well,” he said. “They are asking me why did I defend Senator Saifullah? He is the right-hand man of Imran Khan and an honest man. What did he do?” questioned Swati, adding that he would have stood up the same way even for an ordinary party worker as well. Swati was taken into custody early Thursday morning by FIA’s cybercrime unit for allegedly making ‘controversial tweets’ against state institutions, including the army chief.
