ISLAMABAD: A local sessions court on Saturday granted the police a two-day physical remand of PTI leader Shehryar Afridi over a case pertaining to the May 9 riots.
Afridi was arrested on May 16 from his Islamabad residence under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, 1960, which enables the government to arrest any person.
Afridi was visibly looking frail and fatigued but he expressed resolve and forbearance to fight the legal battle, arguing that one has to face testing times in his quest for truth and patriotism.
Afridi, a patriotic son from Kohat who always vowed to support Pakistani armed forces, looked disenchanted on being tried for his alleged role in May 9 riots and resolved to remain steadfast during the trial.
“Those who believe in Allah would never give during testing times,” he vowed while speaking to media.
On May 30, he was rearrested shortly after his release from a Rawalpindi prison under the same MPO law, with the city police officer accusing Afridi of “instigating, planning to organise unlawful assembly/commit violence, deliver unlawful speeches to cause damage to human life and public/private properties”.
Despite the Islamabad High Court (IHC) overruling his detention orders on June 6, Afridi was being kept in a death cell at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, following which the IHC warned the capital police officials of contempt proceedings.
Judge Naveed Khan presided over the hearing today while Advocate Sher Afzal Marwat appeared as Afridi’s counsel.
At the outset of the hearing, the investigation officer sought Afridi’s five-day physical remand, saying that his photogrammetric and voice-matching tests were yet to be conducted.
At this, Afridi’s counsel objected to the request: “Shehryar Afridi’s videos were obtained from social media. Hence, a photogrammetric test is not needed.”
Advocate Marwat then proceeded to request the court that his client be allowed to meet his family, to which the court accepted the request and let Afridi’s family meet him in the courtroom on the occasion.
At this point during the hearing, Afridi came on the rostrum, visibly emotional.
“My brother passed away but I was not allowed to attend his funeral,” he lamented.
The PTI leader recalled that he had ““given lectures in universities and colleges on patriotism”. He asserted that it was his Constitutional right to protest and argued that he had not taken the law into his own hands.
The judge subsequently reserved his verdict on the matter, which he announced later by granting the police a two-day physical remand of Afridi.
Was not involved in Rana Sanaullah’s arrest, Afridi says
Responding to questions if he would be “holding a press conference” — a reference to leaving the PTI — Afridi averted giving a direct answer.
Upon being asked by a reporter if the current government was avenging the 2019 arrest of incumbent Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah during the previous PTI government — when Afridi was the state minister for interior — the PTI leader denied the allegations of him being behind Sanaullah’s arrest.
“The head of the Anti-Narcotics Force is [a] major [or] general. ANF had arrested him on the basis of intelligence reports. They had all the [evidence] against Rana Sanaullah,” Afridi asserted.
On the matter of numerous party leaders leaving the PTI, he said, “Will not say anything about those who left the party and went. Only God knows the circumstances under which they left the party and the reasons behind it.
“These testing times come [in life]. May God make us all esteemed and give strength to remain steadfast,” he added.
