Suspects held over PTI protest seized by police after being freed by court

ISLAMABAD: In a dramatic turn of events, 81 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers, who had been released by a competent court in D-Chowk protests case, were re-arrested by the Islamabad Police late Saturday night from the court premises.

The re-arrests, which police claim are linked to other cases against the suspects, have sparked outrage among the PTI supporters and raised questions about the adherence to legal protocols.

An Islamabad Police spokesperson stated that the re-arrested individuals were involved in other pending cases. “Only those cleared of all charges were not detained again,” he said. Despite this explanation, the move has been met with criticism for its timing and execution.

The atmosphere outside the court became tense when the released individuals resisted re-arrest. Acting on their lawyers’ advice, many chose to remain within the court premises to avoid being detained. However, a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces surrounded the area, escalating the situation.

At one point, the released workers attempted to move to the upper floors of the court building to evade police action but were blocked by paramilitary personnel stationed inside. Lawyers representing the workers read out the court’s release order to police officials outside, arguing against the legality of re-arrests.

Despite the legal arguments, police officials on the ground received orders to proceed with detentions.

A significant contingent of police, supported by prisoner transport vehicles, stormed the court premises to carry out the rearrests. The released individuals were forcibly apprehended, loaded into vans and transported to an undisclosed location.

The police personnel stationed at the gate of the Judicial Complex also banned the entry of the media while journalists standing there were pushed back. Station House Officer (SHO) Ashfaq Warraich said on the occasion that the media should go back from there or they would be arrested.

Meanwhile, PTI lawyer Fatehullah Burki, while talking to the media outside the Judicial Complex, claimed that there were about 100 discharged protesters in the corridor of the complex. The ATC judge had been informed about the behaviour of police and the order was awaited.

Earlier, during the hearing of the D-Chowk protest case, anti-terrorism court (ATC) Judge Abual Hassanat Zulqarnain had ordered the discharge of the accused sent on the identification parade.

Judge Zulqarnain was continuously warning the police not to rearrest the people. The judge again warned that if the police arrested innocent people, the court would start contempt of court proceedings against the police officials.

The ATC judge ordered the release of 38 accused sent for identity parade and the judicial remand of 56 activists in D-Chowk protest case.

On the night of Friday and Saturday, 32 activists arrested by the police were brought from Jhelum Jail and presented in the court, and it was said that the accused were arrested on November 25 and the identity parade could not be held. It was requested that the physical remand of accused be approved for 30 days.

Lawyer Ansar Kiani said that the identity parade of the accused was not even held and the police were seeking remand for recovery. The police picked up the political workers from their homes to complete the numbers and put them in the protest case, he said.

The court expressed strong anger over the accused being brought from Jhelum and presented late at night and after hearing the arguments, ordered the discharge of all 32 accused from the cases.

Judge Zulqarnain gave the remarks: “If the police arrest them again, I will make the policemen wear a mask.” The police revealed the arrest of the accused in the cases of Police Station I-9 and Police Station Margalla.

The police presented 56 activists arrested on Friday to the court after the identity parade of the accused was completed. The investigation officers of Police Station Bani Gala, Police Station Shehzad Town, Police Station I-9 and Police Station Tarnol appeared in the court and requested the physical remand of the accused for 20 days, while the lawyer of the accused, Ansar Kiani, opposed the physical remand and said that the police had arrested these accused from their homes before the protest. The police did not recover anything from the accused. The police have only filled in the numbers, he added.

The court rejected the request for physical remand of the accused and ordered to send them to jail on judicial remand.

As many as 18 accused of Police Station Bani Gala, 8 of Police Station Shehzad Town, 20 of Police Station Tarnol and 10 of Police Station I-9 were presented before the court. Later, in the same court, the six arrested activists, Babar Ali, Muhammad Mujahid, Shahid, Zeb, Ramzan and Mubashir, were presented.

Judge Zulqarnain, while removing their handcuffs in the courtroom, ordered their discharge from the case and directed the police not to obstruct the path of these accused or to re-arrest them.

Similarly, ATC judge Zulqarnain granted bail to eight minors arrested in the context of PTI protest. The guardians of the children were sent to jail for their release. The children were arrested in the context of PTI’s November 24 protest. Among these children, two hail from Rawalpindi, three from Afghanistan, one from Bajaur, one from Mardan and one Kahuta.

However, the discharged people were re-arrested by the police. The lawyer of accused, Ansar Kiani, informed the court about the re-arrest of the discharged accused. Later, Judge Zulqarnain left the court.

On the other hand, the court of Judicial Magistrate Mureed Abbas ordered the judicial remand of 20 PTI workers arrested in the D-Chowk protest case after their physical remand was completed. The 20 workers were produced before the court after the completion of their two-day physical remand by the police and the police requested an additional five-day physical remand.

The court rejected the request and sent all the 20 accused to jail on 14-day judicial remand. A case had been registered against the accused at the Tarnol Police Station.

Meanwhile, the civil, sessions and anti-terrorism courts in Rawalpindi and Islamabad have showed strong displeasure against the police which was arresting even innocent citizens under the guise of PTI protest rally on November 24 ‘only to complete numbers’. The courts were continuously discharging arrested people from cases but police were re-arresting them and creating an unrest among the public.

The relatives of arrested people told The News that the November 24 incident has opened a new gate of corruption and the police were arresting innocent people who didn’t have any concern with the protest rally. They claimed the police were demanding big ‘bribes’ to release innocent people from cases or they would face 7 ATA and other sections and will face jail.

The police had rounded up more than 1,400 PTI supporters in Rawalpindi and Islamabad in a subsequent crackdown and registered over a dozen cases against them.

Meanwhile, the court of District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Azam Khan has fixed the PTI’s application for preliminary arguments on the issue of alleged dead and missing workers in the D-Chowk protest and has also summoned petitioner Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on the next hearing.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyers appeared in the court. The court fixed the case for preliminary discussion on December 23. Barrister Gohar had made Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Atta Tarar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Islamabad IGP, DIG Operations, SSP Security and unknown persons as party in the petition.

In addition to the list of “12 dead workers and 38 workers injured by bullets”, the names of 139 missing workers had also been put in the petition.