More PTI leaders get transit bail

Police restrained from arresting Suraiya Bibi, Raja Basharat till Nov 3

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court has granted transit bail to Deputy Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Suraiya Bibi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Punjab Assembly member Raja Basharat; and Sanam Javed until November 3, while Alia Hamza has been granted bail until November 8. The court has directed them to appear before the relevant courts on the given dates. During the hearing on the transit bail applications, Justice Faheem Wali was informed by the applicants' lawyer, Alam Khan Adeenzai, that a case had been filed against Alia Hamza in Mianwali's Musa Khel, Raja Basharat in Taxila, Rawalpindi, and cases had been registered against Deputy Speaker Suraiya Bibi and Sanam Javed in Hasan Abdal's Saddar police station.

He argued that these cases were politically motivated, and although his clients wished to appear in court, they feared being arrested. Therefore, he requested that the court grant them transit bail and restrain the authorities from arresting them.

After hearing the arguments, the court granted bail to Suraiya Bibi, Raja Basharat, and Sanam Javed until November 3, and Alia Hamza until November 8. The court also ordered all the applicants to appear before the relevant courts on the specified dates.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, PTI leaders Alia Hamza and Sanam Javed questioned whether any other party had faced as much oppression as PTI leaders and workers. They criticized the government for turning their protest venues into "container-stan" and stated that Barrister Gohar had submitted a request to the Ministry of Interior to arrange a meeting with PTI's founder.

If the request was not granted, they warned, they would be forced to protest again. Alia Hamza further noted that the situation in Punjab was deteriorating, with containers being used to block their protests and homes being raided without respecting their sanctity.

She accused the government of spreading unrest, not PTI, and condemned the federal government for tear-gassing a peace jirga, adding that it was their own people who tended to the wounded. She remarked that the government could stop their protests at any time, just as it had done for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, and demanded immediate access to PTI's founder, saying that this was not just PTI's struggle but the struggle of the entire Pakistani nation. She highlighted that PTI's founder's sisters and wife were enduring jail time for the sake of the people.

Hamza also criticized the passage of a bill in Punjab allowing for the establishment of a "gang force," which would enable police to enter homes without a search warrant. She referenced recent incidents in Lahore, Mianwali, and D-Chowk, saying the public had witnessed the government's actions. She alleged that an undeclared martial law had been imposed in the country and mentioned that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was fulfilling his duties as the province's CM, emphasizing that PTI owed a debt to their leader in jail.

Sanam Javed added that she had come for bail ahead of PTI's protests, stating plainly that they were only asking for a meeting with PTI's founder and did not want to be forced into protests. She asserted that PTI was not involved in violence or invading people's homes. Gandapur, if he wanted, could have also resorted to tear-gassing or inciting conflict, but instead, they only sought to check on the well-being of their leader.

Cop remanded for 15 days

A special anti-terrorism court has handed over a police officer, arrested for allegedly inciting rebellion and engaging in negative activities against the state, to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for 15 days of physical remand for further investigation.

CTD officials presented the former police officer, Jamshed, before Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Muhammad Iqbal. During the hearing, the CTD's investigating officer informed the court that the accused, Jamshed, a former police officer, had allegedly attempted to incite police rebellion through social media and was involved in negative activities against the state and its institutions. Jamshed is from Bannu but was arrested in Peshawar.