Mazari re-arrested after release on LHC orders

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Dr Shireen Mazari has been rearrested as soon as she was released from Adiala jail on the orders of Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on Monday.Earlier on Monday, the LHC ordered the authorities to release the detained PTI leader who was taken into custody multiple times since the May 9 riots.

Mazari’s lawyer said that his client has been arrest once again. According to her counsel, the Punjab police re-arrested the PTI leader, adding that he did not know about her whereabouts.Mazari was first arrested on May 12 and detained at the Adiala prison when the government launched a crackdown against the leadership and workers of PTI following the violent protests and vandalism triggered by the arrest of party Chairman Imran Khan on May 9 on orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The former human rights minister was taken into custody for the second time onMay 16 soon after her arrest was declared “illegal” by the Islamabad High Court.Earlier on Monday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz has issued orders to release Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) top leader Shireen Mazari.

The court has declared her detention under 3(MPO) illegal and ordered an immediate release of Shireen Mazari here on Monday. The court has asked the PTI leader to submit an affidavit to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) assuring ‘no involvement in violent activities in the future.” The former federal minister was re-arrested by Punjab police last week after her release on the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The LHC Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz presided over a hearing of a petition filed against the detention of the former minister where Mazari’s lawyers Barrister Shoaib Razak and Aneeq Khatana appeared in court, while her daughter Imaan Mazari was also present in court.The court ordered not to re-arrest Mazari if she is not named in any case and directed the senior politician to submit an affidavit to the deputy commissioner, stating that she will not be involved in any such activity in the future.

Talking to the media, Imaan said that her mother was arrested three times in a week but today the court annulled the second MPO order for her mother. “The government should think and not destroy homes like this,” she added. The ex-minister’s daughter further said that she has nothing to do with PTI but “it is a pity that party chief Imran Khan has forgotten the workers and leadership”.

On May 12, Mazari was arrested after the Islamabad police raided her house. Her arrest came after a series of arrests of several other PTI leaders, including Imran Khan, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Omer Cheema, Ali Mohammad Khan, Senator Ejaz Chaudhry and others.

All of these leaders other than Imran were arrested under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). On May 16, Mazari was arrested again by police shortly after her release from Adiala Jail.