An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Saturday ordered the release of 38 people arrested in protests led by the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was jailed last month.
On November 26, hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters who took part in a march and planned sit-in demonstrations in the capital Islamabad were arrested by the police.
PTI founder Khan issued an “ultimate call” for nationwide protests on November 13, demanding the restoration of the PTI’s electoral mandate, the release of detained party members and the overturning of the 26th Amendment, which he said entrenched a “dictatorial regime”. .
PTI supporters moved to the capital on November 27 after removing roadblocks, but police launched a nighttime operation and forced them to flee, while more than 1,400 were arrested in Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi.
According to a report in in the morning Newspaper, presided over by Justice Abul Hasnat Mohammad Zulkarnain, 56 suspects were produced in court on Saturday after completion of their identification parade.
The police had requested 20 days physical custody of the suspects which was opposed by defense lawyer Ansar Kayani and before protesting the police arrested the suspects from their homes.
“They don’t want anything back from the suspects. “The police have only completed their numbers,” Kayani said.
Rejecting the request of the police, the judge ordered the police to send 50 people to prison for pre-trial detention and to release the handcuffs of 6 people.
Separately, Geo News reported that Justice Zulkarnain presided over the hearing of 32 people who were arrested during the late night PTI agitation and produced in court for identification.
The investigating officer requested that the suspects be detained for 30 days, while defense lawyer Kiani argued that the police had arrested the innocent workers from their homes to fulfill quotas.
Judge Zulkarnain ordered the handcuffs of the suspects to be removed from the case in court. He issued a stern warning to police not to arrest again, saying: “If the police do this again, I will handcuff them.” The party hastily retreated after the government’s midnight crackdown on PTI’s much-publicised protestors aimed at securing Khan’s release.
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