Mazari claims bugging device planted in her bedroom

PTI leader says it was American model spying device installed in her bedroom

Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Dr Shireen Mazari claimed on Tuesday that a domestic staff found a listening device attached to a coffee table in her bedroom, which was similar to the device recovered from the house of party Chairman Imran Khan a few days ago.

Addressing a press conference along with a fellow PTI leader, Shibli Faraz, Dr Mazari stated that “all brutal tactics” were being used to silence the voice of dissent in the country and dissipate the concept of privacy from society.

“PTI workers are being harassed. First, I was kidnapped. “The constitution and the law are being flouted and if a journalist speaks, an FIR [first information report] is registered,” she said, adding that four cases had been filed against her.

My presser today on how a listening device was discovered yesterday in my bedroom. Complete violation of Article 14.1 of our Constitution. https://t.co/FmmSTY9TFc

— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) July 19, 2022

The PTI leader claimed that she was at Bani Gala, the residence of former prime minister Imran Khan, when her personal secretary called her to say that a device had fallen out from under a coffee table in her bedroom after a domestic worker accidentally bumped into it.

Initially, Mazari said, she thought it could be a USB; however, on proper investigation, it transpired that it was an American model voice recorder, which was planted in the house to spy on her “in sheer violation of Article 14.1 of the Constitution and her rights of privacy”.

“Who installed the device,” she asked. “What more do they want to achieve. Fake cases were lodged, besides tapping of mobile phones,” she said, adding that the law and the Constitution had been turned into a joke.

“My right to privacy and right to protection have been violated. I am filing a constitutional petition in Islamabad High Court [IHC] against this unconstitutional act,” Mazari, who served as the human rights minister in the Imran cabinet, said.

Read Spymaster directs intelligence officers to stay away from political activities

Responding to a question, she said that she was not sure what information the planters of the device were trying to get from her bedroom. “No one can silence us through such tactics, we will expose everyone behind such a dirty game,” she added.

She warned that the government and the state needed to realise the sensitivity of the situation, because the people were angry, as it was evident from the results of the recently-held Punjab by-elections.

Speaking on the occasion, Senator Shibli Faraz said that installing a device in Shireen Mazari's house was alarming. “We don't know how many other people have such devices in their homes and offices,” he added.

Later, PTI Central Secretary General Asad Umar said that bugging Shireen Mazari’s home showed how desperate these people were and how much they feared her. He added that Pakistan was under fascism.