Fawad to be indicted in ECP threat case on 24th

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry will be indicted in a case related to his threatening remarks towards the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials on June 24, a district and sessions court in the federal capital announced on Saturday.

Fawad, a former close aide of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, has been embroiled in various cases, including the sedition case for publicly “threatening” the members of the electoral body during a media talk outside the former prime minister’s Lahore residence in January. He was arrested in Lahore on January 25, the same day he made the remarks but was released on bail on February 1. For today’s hearing, the court summoned Fawad and his bail guarantor in person after the ex-PTI leader skipped the last couple of hearings. Additional District and Sessions Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra made the announcement to frame the charges against the former federal minister.

During the hearing, the court provided copies of the case to Fawad and directed him to ensure his presence at the next hearing as well. The hearing was then adjourned till June 24. The former PTI bigwig is among the various senior leaders who parted ways with the party and its chief in the condemnation of May 9 violent protests. Islamabad Police registered a case against Fawad at the Kohsar Police Station in the federal capital on the complaint of ECP Secretary Omer Hamid Khan. The first information report (FIR) was lodged against him for using threatening language against the ECP and its members, under sections 153-A (promotion of enmity between groups), 506 (criminal intimidation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and 124-A (sedition) of the Pakistan Penal Code. In his speech outside Khan’s residence in Lahore, Fawad warned the ECP, its members and their families, according to the FIR. The FIR states that Fawad said that the status of the election commission was reduced to that of a “munshi [clerk]”. Fawad said that those who become part of the caretaker government will be pursued until they are punished. He had said that the people sitting in the government would be pursued to their houses.