Shireen terms corruption case ‘political victimisation’

Former PTI minister claims her arrest was case of ‘kidnapping and disappearance’

ISLAMABAD:

PTI leader Shireen Mazari on Tuesday termed the corruption case against her “political victimisation”, saying that she was never informed of the charges or asked to provide a clarification and that her name only surfaced during the investigation process.

"They dragged me from the car, put me in a white Vigo and headed towards the motorway,” the PTI leader said while addressing the media persons at the National Press Club.

The former minister said, “It is a case of kidnapping and disappearance. The officials also seized my phone and wallet.”

Shireen said that she believed the officials were trying to take her "somewhere in Punjab".

The PTI leader also claimed that as the human rights minister in the previous government she was asked to appear at the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters over a bill pertaining to enforced disappearances.

"I have always taken a position against enforced disappearances," she said, adding that the former government had also drafted a bill in this regard. She said that former premier Imran Khan had wanted the bill to be tabled in parliament and had asked the ministries to see whether it came under their rules of business.

"That evening I got a phone call asking me to appear at the ISI headquarters [...] I went and I said that we had signed international conventions."

She claimed that the officials were looking for a magistrate to complete the documentation as they did not have any grounds to arrest her. The PTI leader said that her daughter, lawyer Imaan Zainab Hazir Mazari, was “understandably upset” and took the name of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during a news conference.

"My daughter was upset as her mother had disappeared. She did a news conference where she took the name of General Qamar and used a certain word. Now, petitions and FIRs are being filed, saying she is against the national interest and that it is terrorism."

She said, "It seems like the establishment is currently suffering from Mazari phobia."

Read Judicial inquiry ordered into Mazari's arrest

She said that one of her acquaintances, a former official of Punjab Anti-corruption Establishment (ACE), had advised her to "go easy" on the establishment.

She quoted the official as saying that “sham cases were being created against her”. "He said he had stopped them when he was in the ACE, on the pretext that they were false and should not be pursued. He then received a phone call telling him to not get involved in the matter."

She also questioned why officials seized her phone following her arrest. "The establishment would want information but the ACE would have not gotten any information from my phone."

Further, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights discussed the recent arrest of Shireen.

The committee, which met here with Senator Walid Iqbal in the chair, was informed by the Islamabad Capital Territory police that they only provided assistance in the arrest of Shireen on the request of the Punjab Anti-corruption Department which they (Islamabad police) received through the office of the Islamabad chief commissioner.

Islamabad SP City Kamran Khan briefed the committee on the limited role of the Islamabad police in this regard.

The Ministry of Interior informed the committee that the request from the Punjab Home Department was received directly by the Islamabad administration and that the ministry had nothing to do with the matter.

It was informed that a summary for formation of a judicial commission, as directed by the Islamabad High Court, had been moved by the ministry.

The Punjab anti-corruption director informed the committee that Shireen was accused of violating the rights of 310 families. “The department is ready to defend the case in the judicial commission.”

(With input from APP)