Islamabad court grants Azam Swati bail in controversial tweets case

ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court approved on Friday PTI leader Azam Swati's post-arrest bail plea in a case related to his controversial tweets against state institutions.

The court had earlier reserved its verdict.

Special Judge Central Raja Asif Mehmood announced the verdict today and directed Swati to deposit surety bonds worth Rs1 million.

The PTI senator was taken into custody last week by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for tweeting against the army chief and state institutions after a case was filed against him.

At the last hearing, Special Prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi raised objections at the court’s jurisdiction and said this case should be transferred to the sessions court.

He said that Swati had given a hateful statement about the head of a state institution through his tweet.

The institution had no connection with the courts’ decisions, he said, adding the accused had used a provoking way against the state institutions at a public forum.

Swati had also admitted that during the investigation, Abbasi said.

In his concluding arguments, Swati’s counsel Baber Awan said that his client had used the right of freedom of expression through his tweet.

My client was tortured and humiliated during the custody, he alleged.