Ex-general picked up for ‘inciting rebellion’

Former army officer tried to create further enmity, anarchy between govt, opposition, judicial magistrate says in FIR

ISLAMABAD:

The police on Monday arrested Lieutenant General (retd) Amjad Shoaib over allegations of inciting rebellion within institutions and presented him before a local court.

The district and sessions court approved the three-day physical remand of Lt Gen (retd) Shoaib.

The retired general was produced by the capital police in court before Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah on charges of incitement against institutions through his remarks on a private television channel.

At the outset of the hearing, Prosecutor Muhammad Adnan requested the court to grant the police a seven-day physical remand of the accused as they had to take him to Lahore for a photogrammetry test.

He read out the content of the FIR before the court, saying that Lt Gen Shoaib had tried to spread hatred among the government, opposition, and government employees through his statement on a private TV channel.

He said that the accused could face a jail term ranging from five to seven years under the charges applied in FIR.

The retired general’s lawyer, Muddasir Khalid Abbasi, opposed the physical remand request of the prosecution, requesting the court to discharge his client from the FIR.

He said that the court had to view whether the accused had committed a crime or not.

The lawyer said that the sections applied in FIR against his client did not meet the merits, adding that Lt Gen Shoaib had just given an example about a certain situation. He said that his client did not give the statement which could cause a loss to the country.

The counsel argued that his client, who was 80 years old, had just committed positive criticism.

District Bar Association President Qaiser Imam said that the accused had admitted his statement on a TV channel and in this situation, there was no need for photogrammetric voice matching tests.

The prosecutor said that it was necessary to get these tests for a fair trial in the case. He also opposed the request of the defence regarding the discharge of the accused from the FIR.

The defence lawyer said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had repeatedly tried to contact his client.

After listening to the arguments, the court granted the police a three-day remand of the accused.

Lt Gen (retd) Shoaib was arrested on Monday following an Islamabad magistrate registering a case against him on charges of inciting the public against institutions and the government.

According to police sources, Shoaib, a defence analyst, was arrested from his residence after a first information report (FIR) was filed at the Ramna police station by Magistrate Owais Khan.

The complaint was lodged under sections 153A and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which pertain to promoting enmity between various factions and statements inciting public mischief, respectively.

The FIR maintained that in an interview with a private news channel, Shoaib made comments that “incited government officials and opposition from performing their government and legal duties”.

The FIR stated that the former general said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ could not produce the required outcome as only the common people were bearing the pain and agony in it, whereas the “shameless rulers sitting at the top did not care about it”.

Magistrate Owais claimed that Shoaib advised the PTI to “work out a strategy”, such as preventing people from entering government offices in the federal capital.

The complaint added that the statement had “tried to create further enmity, anarchy, and hatred between the incumbent government and the opposition”. It said the comments were passed in accordance with a “well-thought conspiracy and planning to further weaken the country”.

The FIR requested legal action against the retired general for his statement.

(With input from APP)