After Imran, PTI’s Asad Umar arrested from IHC premises

Published May 10, 2023
PTI Secretary General Asad Umar being taken into custody by the Islamabad Police on May 10, 2023. — DawnNewsTV
PTI Secretary General Asad Umar being taken into custody by the Islamabad Police on May 10, 2023. — DawnNewsTV

A day after PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the capital police on Wednesday arrested party secretary general Asad Umar from the same place.

Umar was heading to the Supreme Court to challenge Imran’s arrest, when he was taken into custody by the police in cases pertaining to causing damage to state property, according to the Islamabad police.

PTI’s official Twitter account shared videos of Umar’s arrest, which showed dozens of policemen surrounding and dragging him, presumably, towards a police van.

Following Umar’s arrest, PTI leader Shireen Mazari said the IHC had become a “fertile ground to illegally arrest PTI leaders”.

“Fascism confirmed. They can’t get the terrorists but PTI leaders are now terrorists for cabal of crooks & the state? This is despicable,” she tweeted.

 Screengrab of Shireen Mazari’s tweet on May 10, 2023.
Screengrab of Shireen Mazari’s tweet on May 10, 2023.

Separately, PTI leader Faisal Javed Khan said the “criminals who are wanted by the courts and have fled are in power”.

 Screenshot of PTI’s Faisal Javed Khan’s tweet on May 10, 2023.
Screenshot of PTI’s Faisal Javed Khan’s tweet on May 10, 2023.

PTI leader and lawyer Babar Awan claimed Umar’s arrest was illegal as he had been granted protective bail by the Sindh High Court (SHC).

Talking to the media today in Islamabad, Awan said, “The SHC had clearly granted him protective bail, and even in other cases here, he was on bail.”

Opinion

Editorial

Depopulating Gaza
Updated 07 Feb, 2025

Depopulating Gaza

The least feasible "solution" is the Trumpian plan for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing and occupation, which is a non-starter.
‘Pause’ in US aid
07 Feb, 2025

‘Pause’ in US aid

THE impact of the Trump administration’s decision to ‘pause’ all US foreign aid programmes, especially those...
Mobilising opposition
07 Feb, 2025

Mobilising opposition

POLITICS makes strange bedfellows. There has not, for quite some time, been a guest list as intriguing as the one...
No time left
Updated 06 Feb, 2025

No time left

Climate change concerns continue to remain a footnote as politics dominates national discourse, surfacing only when disaster strikes.
Karim Aga Khan
06 Feb, 2025

Karim Aga Khan

PRINCE Karim Aga Khan was a man who straddled various worlds and cultures. Beyond his role as spiritual leader of ...
Cotton production
06 Feb, 2025

Cotton production

PAKISTAN’S cotton crop is on the ropes. The crop output has been falling since FY15, when the country harvested a...