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Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 211 I 12 Pages I Islamabad edition
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Day after Denial, another court senDs fawaD ch on 2-Day remanD g
pti leader brougHt to Court witH faCe Covered witH blaCk ClotH
ISLAMABAD
a
staff report
local court here saturday accepted the police’s petition against judicial magistrate order that denied extension in physical remand of pti leader fawad Chaudhry in a sedition case and granted police another two-day remand of the pti leader. additional district and sessions Judge tahir mehmood khan while approving the police’s application issued orders for production of fawad Ch in the court. Coincided with the hearing, another court also rejected fawad Ch’s plea seeking discharge him from the case. it is to be noted that fawad Ch was taken into custody on wednesday for allegedly “inciting violence against a constitutional institution” — the election Commission of pakistan (eCp). a first information report (fir) against him was registered at islamabad’s kohsar police station on a complaint of eCp secretary umar Hameed. the fir stated that Chaudhry, in a
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Hiba CH says sHe, daugHters not being allowed to meet Her Husband despite Court’s orders
speech outside pti Chairman imran khan’s house, had allegedly threatened the eCp and their family members. on saturday, the pti leader was brought to court with his faced covered with a black cloth on directives issued by additional district and sessions Judge tahir mehmood khan who said that appearance of the suspect in the court was mandatory in cases where investigators seek a physical remand. Concurrently, another hearing on the pti leader’s petition seeking post-arrest bail was also underway at a local court. the two cases were heard separately at different courts located in close proximity at f-8 judicial complex. the former information minister had on friday moved an application through his attorney before additional district and sessions Judge faizan Haider gillani seeking his bail. ‘not retracting my remarks’ as the pti leader was brought to the court on saturday, babar awan, counsel for fawad Ch, questioned merits of the case and insisted his client did not say anything that would pose a security risk to the country.
“the entire pti has similar views that fawad Chaudhry said in his statement,” awan told the court. He said the pti leader did not flee the country on the pretext of health. in his statement before the court, Chaudhry said he was not retracting his remarks. “it is tantamount to endangering democracy in the country if freedom of expression is denied,” he told the court. the pti leader said he had acknowledged his statement, adding: “it is my right.” He said gagging freedom of expression was akin to turning pakistan into a country like myanmar. “it will not be a democracy if the people are forced to stop criticising the powerful.” Chaudhry said he stood by his statement and would not backtrack on it. He called on his rivals to not take charge of important positions if they were not willing to accept criticism. speaking to media outside the court, fawad Ch’s wife Hiba said she was not being allowed to meet her husband despite the court’s orders. “i request punjab caretaker Chief minister mohsin naqvi to allow my daughters to meet their father,” she said. she also called out punjab and islamabad police officials for their alleged highhandedness in dealing with her family. Hiba said she was ready to file a petition “if that is the only way my children and i can meet fawad”. earlier, the court summoned the prosecutor and asked him to read out the petition seeking the extension in the physical remand of the pti leader. prosecutor adnan said it was necessary to take fawad Ch to lahore for a “photogrammetric test”. “we also need access to the suspect’s electronic gadgets including his cellphone and laptop to determine other elements who connived with him.” He urged the court to set aside the judicial magistrate’s order and grant an extension in the physical remand of the ex-minister.
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Have faith! PML-N will fix economic turmoil: Maryam LAHORE staff report
pakistan muslim leaguenawaz’s (pml-n) senior vice president and Chief organizer maryam nawaz saturday said that she and her father nawaz sharif were well aware of the inflation and economic problems being faced by the public, promising that her party would steer the country out of economic woes but it will take some time. “your Quaid…your beloved leader would return to the country soon,” maryam nawaz maryam told to jubilant supporters and workers who thronged allama iqbal international airport to welcome their leader. the pml-n svp and chief organizer returned to pakistan to begin the “reorganisation of the party” ahead of polls in punjab. the pml-n chief organizer landed at lahore’s allama iqbal international airport from abu dhabi at around 3:30pm via pia flight pk-264. upon her arrival at lahore airport, she tweeted: “pak sar zameen shad bad.” during her address,
maryam nawaz asked the nation to “have faith in pml-n” and it will steer the country out of the current quagmire. she said, “the point that four years of disqualification, incompetence and neglect have pushed the economy to the present stage and it will take some time.” in her address, maryam vowed her father would also return to the country “in upcoming days with god’s blessings [and] in your affection”. she asserted the pml-n would win the upcoming punjab elections with significant margins. “nawaz sharif is still the top leader of the country despite being ousted from power three times,” she remarked. without naming anyone, maryam said, “these people forced nawaz sharif to go in exile twice but it was nawaz sharif who steered pakistan out of trouble three times.” the pml-n leader said she and nawaz sharif were well aware of the inflation that the country was mired in and promised that her party would resolve the challenge.
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Imran slams ‘imported govt’ for treating Fawad like terrorist ISLAMABAD staff report
pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) Chairman imran khan came down hard on the imported government for treating pti senior vice president fawad Chaudhry like a terrorist who was taken to the court handcuffed and head covered. pti Chairman, in a strong reaction on saturday, flayed the imported government and said that the law of the jungle now prevails where might is right. imran khan further said that the Constitution and law of the land have been totally subjugated by the pharaohs of today. “taking fawad Chaudhry to court handcuffed and head/face covered like a terrorist shows the low and vindictive levels imported government and the state have reached,” he added. pti Chairman stated: “the treatment of fawad Chaudhry and pti senator azam swati and shahbaz gill before him leaves no doubt in people’s mind
that now we are a banana republic.” ‘appeal to CJp to protect fawad Ch’s constitutional rights’ meanwhile, pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) Chairman imran khan saturday wrote to Chief Justice of pakistan (CJp) umar ata bandial, urging the latter to protect ‘constitutional rights’ of his party leader fawad Chaudhry. according to details, the former premier penned down the letter after fawad Ch was sent on remand for ‘threatening members of election Commission of pakistan (eCp)’. in the letter to the CJp, imran khan cited the “inhumane” treatments meted out to senator azam swati and pti leader shahbaz gill while they were in the custody of law enforcement agencies (leas). He feared that similar treatment would be meted out to the former information minister, in violation of articles 9, 10a, and 14. imran khan mentioned that as the top judge is the custodian of the consti-
tution, he requests him to “ensure that honour and dignity of fawad Chaudhry are not violated”. it is pertinent to mention here that a judicial magistrate on saturday granted police two-day physical remand of pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) leader fawad Chaudhry, who was arrested for ‘threatening’ members of election Commission of pakistan (eCp). according to details, Judicial magistrate waqas ahmed raja accepted the police’s request for an extension in fawad Chaudhry’s physical remand, sending the former information minister on two-day physical remand. in the order, the judicial magistrate ordered the islamabad police to produce the pti leader before his court on monday (January 30) upon the expiry of his remand. THe caSe: the former federal minister was arrested for ‘threatening’ election Commission of pakistan (eCp) members. a case against pti leader was registered at the kohsar police station in is-
lamabad on the complaint of secretary of the election Commission of pakistan (eCp) omer Hamid khan. a case against pti leader was regis-
tered at the kohsar police station in islamabad on the complaint of secretary of the election Commission of pakistan (eCp) omer Hamid khan.