The court has placed Fawad Chaudhry on judicial remand for a period of fourteen days.
Rejects the police’s request to extend the PTI leader’s physical remand; a plea requesting Fawad’s release from custody is filed in court.
Fawad Chaudry, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was brought to Adiala Jail on Friday as part of a 14-day judicial remand in a case involving “inciting violence against a constitutional institution.”
The PTI politician was detained in Lahore on Wednesday on sedition-related charges after allegedly “threaten[ing]” the CEC and other members of the Pakistani Election Commission (ECP).
Following this, Fawad was given to the police by an Islamabad court in a two-day physical remand.
He was hauled before Judicial Magistrate Waqas Ahmed Raja’s court in front of heavy security when the remand came to an end today.
The police asked the court to order the former minister to remain in physical detention for an additional seven days at the beginning of the hearing.
Reading the first information report (FIR) filed against the PTI leader, the prosecutor, who is also representing the commission in the case, took note of the language used against the CEC and acting Punjab chief minister.
He said that they had successfully matched the suspect’s voice to that of Fawad Chaudhry and that a photogrammetry test will soon be carried out.
He requested a longer physical detention of the PTI leader, saying, “More recoveries are still to be made.” The ECP’s attorney continued, “The accused has also admitted to the remarks before the court on the prior hearing.”
Although Fawad is a senior politician, the prosecution stated that “no one is above the law,” adding that a search of his home was required to find his laptop and phone.
Advocate Babar Awan, the PTI leader’s attorney, retorted, “Fawad Chaudhary is not a terrorist.”
The lawyer observed that the ECP’s role is to organise elections, claiming that the ECP has turned into a government.
How can I ask the Election Commission for justice in the polls if they are the plaintiff in a case against me, he questioned.
Fawad claimed in his speech before the court that his statements “are not just his own but they are the party’s words and communicate the PTI’s viewpoint.”
Additionally, he presented the court with the CCTV evidence while claiming that his arrest was “illegal”.
He made the implication that the ruling coalition and the establishment were responsible for his detention by saying, “I was neither arrested by the Lahore police nor the Islamabad police.” Fawad Chaudhary had been “kidnapped,” his lawyer continued.
The PTI leader insisted that he had requested the recovery of his phone from the police and filed a claim for Rs. 500 million in damages against the ECP.
The court then granted Fawad’s motion to prevent the cops from cuffing him inside the courtroom.
The court also dismissed Fawad’s request for a physical remand extension and ordered him to spend the next 14 days in Adiala Jail.
Fawad, meanwhile, submitted a bail plea, claiming that the prosecution against him was based on “ulterior intentions.”
