IHC seeks footage of ‘kidnapping’ of Mashwani’s brothers

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought CCTV footage of the alleged kidnapping of the brothers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azhar Mashwani.

During the hearing of a plea seeking recovery of the missing brothers of Mashwani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb remarked that the authorities should deal in accordance with the law with anyone involved in hateful speech.He observed that the brothers or any other relative of a perpetrator could not be held accountable for the actions of the perpetrator.

The IHC observed that the courts had to decide the cases in accordance with the Constitution and law. The high court remarked that it would be a crime in both cases if the missing persons were whisked away by an ordinary person or government officials.

The high court observed that the interior secretary, police, defence ministry and the Federal Investigation Agency had all stated that the missing persons were not in their custody. Justice Aurangzeb remarked that he hoped the missing persons would be recovered through the attorney general’s efforts.

He observed that expenditure must have been incurred for whisking away the missing persons. He asked what the justification for such expenditures was. The petitioner’s lawyer, Babar Awan, stated that many family members of Mashwani were picked up. He informed the IHC that Mashwani’s father was also picked up and released after 10 days.

He said Mashwani had also been picked up and released after nine days but his brothers had not been released despite the passage of 72 days.

He claimed that Mashwani was informed on phone that his brothers were in Islamabad and he was directed to delete his tweets concerning human rights situation. Awan said the number from which Mashwani was called belonged to one of the missing brothers but a report stated that its data was missing. To this, the IHC observed that it suggested that the data had been deleted, but it could also be recoered

He observed that the cases of missing persons had been emerging in the tenure of the current government as frequently as they used to emerge in the tenure of the previous government.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Babar Awan, demanded that the routes of the car in which the missing persons were taken away be traced. The hearing was adjourned till August 22.