Hajj scam: Court extends Kazmi's remand by 5 days

Activists from religious organisations stage demonstration against arrest of Hamid Saeed Kazmi.

LAHORE: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday extended the physical remand of Former Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi by five days.

The Federal Investigation Agency presented Kazmi in the court after the expiration of his 5-day physical remand.

Earlier, the FIA had requested for a 14-day remand, but the court had given them custody for only five days.

Kazmi will now appear in court on March 26, 2011.

Talking to the media outside the court, Kazmi appealed to his supporters to refrain from resorting to violence and asked them to stage peaceful demonstrations.

Updated from print edition (below)

‘Let Kazmi go’: Religious groups rally in support

Activists from several religious organisations staged a protest demonstration against the arrest of former federal minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi on Sunday.

The protesters sported placards and banners and chanted slogans against the FIA and in favour of Kazmi. The protesters included activists of Jamaat Ahl-i-Sunnat, Sunni Tehrik (ST), Anjuman Tulba Islam and Tanzimul Saeed. ST leader Nawaz Kharal said that Kazi’s arrest without any proof of alleged corruption was more than a political vendetta. ST president Mujahid Abdul Rasool Naqashbandi said “a court has released Raymond Davis accused of double murder but no court is able to provide relief to an innocent Kazmi”. He said that the parties would stage protests all over the country and demanded that all cases against Kazmi be withdrawn.

Qari Faisal Naqashbandi said that the government “was putting an end to the democratic process by arresting politicians”. He said that the FIA could find nothing against Kazmi after investigating him for five months. Naqashbandi said that if the government didn’t release the former minister, it would be responsible for the consequences.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2011.