PTI moves court for release of leaders who volunteered for arrest

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers on Thursday approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking the release of the party's top leadership who voluntarily offered their arrests under the party’s “Jail Bharo Tehreek” on the call of party chairman Imran Khan.

Petitioners senator Ejaz Chaudhary, Syeda Nuria Humaira Rafique (wife of Waleed Iqbal) and others filed different petitions demanding the release of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Azam Swati, Waleed Iqbal, Murad Rass, and several others.

The petitioners argued that neither has the due process been adopted in making the arrests nor were the PTI leaders were presented before any court of law.

They implored the court that PTI started the movement on February 22 for the supremacy of the Constitution wherein “thousands of workers and supports of PTI offered their voluntary arrests from different points”.

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The respondents, the inspector general prison and CCPO Lahore, on the direction of another respondent, additional chief home secretary, arrested the PTI leaders from Lahore’s Mall Road and were taken to the camp jail first.

The petitions added that the PTI leadership was then transported to the city’s Kot Lakhpat jail, adding that the detainees "were not provided with food and necessary medicine".

Ejaz Chaudhary in his petition contended that the lives of PTI leaders were at stake at the hands of respondents.

The petitioners added that if the detainees are not released from the “illegal and unlawful detention they could suffer an irreparable loss and injury”.

The petitioners furthered that the respondents may book the detainees in “false and frivolous cases in order to cause them maximum harm”.

The PTI lawmakers further requested the court to order the release of its members “from the illegal and unlawful custody of the respondents”, adding that a direction “may kindly be issued to the respondents to refrain from doing any illegal act against the life and liberty of the detainees”.

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The PTI kicked off its “Jail Bharo” drive on Wednesday as leaders and activists of the party started voluntarily presenting themselves for arrest.

The PTI Central Media Cell claimed that those who courted arrest in Lahore included Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Azam Swati, Muhammad Madni, Murad Rass, Ihsan Dogar, Siddique Khan, Azam Niazi, Abdul Wakeel, Shadi Khan, Gulfarm Virk, Muhammad Rehman, Hamed Ullah Khan, Mian Shahzad, Noran Sohail, Rana Manan, Chaudhry Zahid, Malik Sajid Prince, M Ahmad Bhatti, Shahzad Khokhar and Azhar Bhatti among other party’s central and provincial leaders as well as activists.