‘Stay mum’: IHC tells PTI’s Sanam Javaid while issuing her release order

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday ordered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Sanam Javaid’s release and stopped the police and other law enforcement agencies from arresting her till Thursday, while also strictly advising her to “stay mum” in the meantime.

The firebrand campaigner of the Imran Khan-founded party, who faced arrests and rearrests in multiple cases related to May 9 mayhem, had been once again taken into custody by the capital territory police on Sunday, an hour after her release from Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) custody.

A duty magistrate at a district and sessions court in Islamabad had allowed Sanam Javaid to walk free a day after she was arrested by the probe agency’s team in a terrorism case linked to May 9 riots. Saturday’s arrest came minutes after her release from a Gujranwala prison following her acquittal in a separate case under similar charges.

However, she was freed again on Sunday after the Islamabad court cleared her of charges in the FIA case, only to be handcuffed by the police just after an hour of release. As per the authorities, she had been arrested in a case pertaining to provocative speech registered in Balochistan under the sections of Anti-Terrorism Act. Today, the PTI social media campaigner was presented before a district kachehri court in the federal capital to seek her transit remand for being transported to Balochistan.

Meanwhile, her father moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against her “illegal custody”. During the hearing at the kachehri court today, the judge received high court’s orders to present her in the high court, where Justice Mian Gul Hassan presided over the hearing, in presence of Islamabad Inspector General Ali Nasir Rizvi and FIA officials.

The petitioner’s lawyer requested the court to direct the authorities to present the first information report (FIR) for the PTI stalwart’s latest arrest by Islamabad police.

At this, the authorities informed the court that Sanam Javaid had not been nominated in the FIR but Balochistan police had sought their assistance for her arrest in the terrorism case. The court, however, due to shortage of time sought all records of cases registered against her during the past one year and allowed her family to take her home.

The IHC also barred the authorities from rearresting the former ruling party’s loyalist till Thursday, while directing her to stay within the limits of Islamabad till Thursday.

The court strictly advised her and her father to avoid making any hard-hitting statements during this time. The PTI campaigner has been behind the bars for almost a year, embroiled in various cases all linked to the vandalism and unrest triggered by PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023.

Before the latest case lodged in Balochistan, there were 12 cases registered against her, including the Zaman Park vandalism, the PML-N house fire and a Racecourse Police Station incident. She has been acquitted in a total of four cases counting the latest FIA case, and has acquired bail in the remaining eight cases.