A local court in Islamabad on Monday has sent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati to jail on judicial remand in a case involving “controversial tweets” against Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
During the hearing, Swati’s lawyer Babar Awan told the court that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was praying for the recovery of the tweet sent by Swati. He also claimed before the court that the senator had an injury on one of his fingers and had a fracture as well.
On the other hand, the prosecutor requested the court that a three-day physical remand of the senator be approved. But the court rejected the request and instead sent Swati to jail on judicial remand
Azam Swati in custody: Court rejects FIA request, extends one-day physical remand instead of eight days
A district and sessions court on Saturday extended the physical remand of Swati for one day. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had requested an eight-day extension.
On October 13, Swati was arrested in the early hours of the morning for tweeting against General Bajwa. According to Swati, he was tortured by the investigation agency while in custody.
Earlier in the day, when the hearing began, the Senator was presented in the court after a delay.
During the hearing, FIA officials, along with their eight-day remand request, presented the record of Swati’s “controversial tweets” in the court.
Giving the reason for the extension, Special Prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi said that the FIA has to recover the said Twitter account’s password. He also informed the court that Swati wasn’t cooperating in the interrogation.
Moreover, he said: “The said tweet is not the only tweet as Azam Swati has posted such tweets earlier as well.” He added that the FIA has records of the planned tweets from Swati’s official account.
PTI’s lawyer Babar Awan also presented arguments, maintaining that the defence admits that Swati did post the tweet in question but there was legal cover.
Awan said that he had told the senator to not say anything now. “If you want to check anything, check his [Swati’s] wounds,” he added.
