ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) secured two-day remand of Azam Khan Swati, a senator of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, after arresting him for a second time in less than two months on charges of sending out tweets critical of top army brass, including its outgoing chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, and featuring slurs.
He was last arrested by the agency in the second week of October in a midnight raid at his residence in Islamabad. His lawyer Babar Awan alleged at the time that Swati’s house was raided without a search warrant. “He was blindfolded and treated like a terrorist,” he had told the press.
This time, however, the agency decided to act in a “civilised manner”. In a video recorded while he was being arrested early on Sunday, Swati said the raiding team possessed, and showed him, an arrest warrant.
Azam Sawati’s arrest video. pic.twitter.com/mHmMNP01X1
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) November 27, 2022
The development came hours after the senator, during his party’s power show Friday night, delivered a fiery speech mentioning his custodial torture while asking a series of pointed questions, including the sudden ballooning of his wealth, from Gen. Bajwa.
According to a first information report (FIA) registered by the agency, headed by a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), on the complaint of a staff member under a draconian cybercrime law, at least four Twitter handles, including Swati’s, “started, with malafide intentions and ulterior motives, a highly obnoxious campaign of intimidating tweets” against Gen. Bajwa.
Recalling the events preceding the complaint, the FIR noted that on November 19, a second Twitter account issued a tweet holding the army responsible for Pakistan’s “destruction” — to which Swati replied with “thank you”.
Thank you
— Senator Azam Khan Swati (@AzamKhanSwatiPk) November 25, 2022
Days later, on November 24, a second account, stated that “tabdeeli (change)” had to begin by clearing the filth of the “corrupt generals” from the institution of the army, to which Swati again replied with “thank you”.
The complaint further noted that later that day, an apparently right-wing account tweeted, asking its followers to share a word for Gen. Bajwa to which the senator responded by spewing a slur.
He needs to go to hell Bastard
— Senator Azam Khan Swati (@AzamKhanSwatiPk) November 25, 2022
Then on November 26, Swati shared a tweet declaring he would go after a senior intelligence official he’s accused of torture and harassment at every legal forum.
Faisal Naseer is Bastard he will pay for it I will follow that SOB at every legal and ethics forum
— Senator Azam Khan Swati (@AzamKhanSwatiPk) November 26, 2022
The agency said such “intimidating tweets of blaming and naming” were a “mischievous act of subversion to create a rift between personnel of armed forces to harm the state of Pakistan”.
It further said that through the series of tweets, as well as the comments, on “instigating tweets”, the senator attempted to seduce army personnel from their allegiance to their duties as subordinates.”
This was a “calculated and repeated attempt”, it declared.
Awan, Swati’s counsel, told the court, before whom the agency had produced the senator to secure his remand, the effects of the physical and mental torture on the politician from his last detention still remained.
“Senator Swati was brutally tortured last time. He has still not recovered,” Awan said, claiming that his client’s life was also in danger.
‘STATE FASCISM’
The party’s relations with the army have been tenuous since former prime minister Imran Khan was removed from office in April this year through a contentious parliamentary vote.
Swati’s party has demanded his earliest release, with chairman Khan urging the nation to “raise their voice against this state fascism”.
“I am shocked [and] appalled at how rapidly we are descending into not just a banana republic but a fascist state,” he tweeted.
“How can anyone not understand the pain and suffering Senator Swati underwent with custodial torture [and] blackmailing video of him [and] his conservative wife sent to his family,” he questioned, referring to a secretly filmed explicit video of him and his wife sent to his spouse’s WhatsApp account from an “unknown number” to embarrass and silence him.
I am shocked & appalled at how rapidly we are descending into not just a banana republic but a fascist state. How can anyone not understand the pain & suffering Senator Swati underwent with custodial torture & blackmailing video of him & his conservative wife sent to his family?
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 27, 2022
“His justifiable anger [and] frustration at the injustice meted out to him especially the doors of Supreme Court remaining closed to him despite over a fortnight of appeals by Senators in support of him.
So he tweets [and] is arrested again. Everyone must raise their voice against this state fascism.”
PTI MP Shireen Mazari wondered whether the “pusillanimous” chairman of the Senate accorded his approval for this arrest.
Senator Azam Swati arrested again by FIA after he spoke at our Azadi March where he asked some questions & spoke abt what hapened to him & his family. Is that a crime? Did the pussilanimous Senate Chairman again give his approval for this arrest? Fascism. #ReleaseAzamSwati pic.twitter.com/MMBWqvWm13
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) November 27, 2022
“This is fascism,” tweeted journalist Mubashir Zaidi.
FIA again arrests Senator Swati for ‘highly obnoxious’ tweets against military officials. This is #fascismhttps://t.co/3quuNIjZAN
— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) November 27, 2022
