ISLAMABAD: A local court on Saturday extended the physical remand of Senator Azam Swati in a case registered against him over a controversial tweet against the military establishment denouncing the acquittal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son in a multi-billion money laundering case.

Judicial magistrate Mohammad Shabbir Bhatti handed over his custody to FIA’s Cybercrime Wing for another day with the direction to produce him in the court on Oct 16.

The FIA produced the senator before the court and sought his physical remand for eight more days, as special prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi argued that the investigation agency had yet to make recoveries from the senator.

Mr Abbasi said Mr Swati tweeted ‘objectionable and defamatory’ content through his verified twitter handle. He argued that the court could hand over his custody on physical remand for 14 days. The PTI leader was continuously uploading such material on social media in which he accused the chief of army staff for ‘facilitating criminals’, he added.

PML-N leader moves IHC against Aitzaz for contempt

He told the court that the senator admitted he had tweeted the objectionable content, but the prosecution sought to recover his mobile phone to ascertain as to whether he acted on his own or this was part of an organised and coordinated attempt to malign the army and the judiciary. Mr Swati told the court that he had thrown his mobile phone out of home instead of giving it to the FIA as it contained family photos.

Defence counsel Babar Awan argued there was no need to extend physical remand after Mr Swati’s confession. “What is the investigation officer trying to establish now? Was Imran Khan behind this tweet or it was done on behest of US President Joe Biden,” he argued. “Does he want to go to the US to verify the twitter account?” he remarked.

While claiming that he could play several videos in the courtroom showing other some leaders criticising the military establishment even more harshly, Mr Awan said that the senator was tortured in custody and some unidentified people were trying to stop doctors from writing factual medical report of his client. “If the court permits, Mr Swati can show the marks of torture and wounds,” he added.

In a harshly-worded tweet, PTI Senator Swati had sarcastically congratulated the army chief “Mr Bajwa” and a few others, saying “Your plan is really working and all criminals are getting free at cost of this country” and alleging corruption had been “legitimised”.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested him on Thursday after booking him on charges of inciting mutiny. The FIR was registered under Sections 131 (abetting mutiny), 500 (defamation), 501 (printing defamatory contents), 505 (conducing public mischief), and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 20 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

Contempt petition against Aitzaz

Also, PML-N leader Mohammad Safdar filed a petition in Islamabad High Court seeking contempt proceedings against former PPP senator Aitzaz Ahsan over his remarks that the military establishment manipulated the acquittal of the Sharif family.

Besides Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz, the petitioner and his spouse Maryam Nawaz were recently acquitted in the Avenfield reference.

Mr Ahsan had alleged the “establishment” helped the Sharif family get clear of the cases of corruption against them. Mr Safdar said the Supreme Court convicted PML-N leaders Talal Chaudhry and Daniyal Aziz for ‘merely criticising the judiciary’. He requested similar treatment for Mr Ahsan as he requested the court to initiate contempt proceedings against him, citing the ex-senator and advocate general for Islamabad as respondents.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2022