Pakistan: Rawalpindi court sends Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 14-day judicial remand in May 9 case
Dec 28, 2023
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 28 : A Rawalpindi Court sent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi to a 14-day judicial remand on Thursday in a fresh case related to May 9 riots, Dawn reported.
The court rejected the plea of Punjab Police which was seeking the custody of the former Pakistan minister.
The development comes a day after Qureshi was allegedly manhandled and re-arrested outside Adiala Jail in connection with an attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on May 9 -- when widespread protests erupted across the country after ex-premier Imran Khan's arrest.
Media reports said the PTI leader was also implicated in a dozen similar cases.
Earlier on Wednesday, Qureshi was released from Adiala Jail after the Supreme Court approved his post-arrest bail in the cypher case.
However, the PTI leader, who tried to talk to the Punjab police on multiple occasions, was pushed and whisked away from the prison. The PTI leader was initially moved to the Cantt police station by the police, who maltreated him, according to Dawn.
Qureshi was presented before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Syed Jahangir Ali on Thursday.
PTI shared a video on social media and condemned the police action of keeping Qureshi handcuffed.
"Shah Mehmood Qureshi has been in politics for 40 years, as the foreign minister has represented Pakistan twice around the world, has also been a parliamentary leader and is the vice chairman of Pakistan's largest political party. Bringing Shah Sahib to court with handcuffs is a very shameful act - even this time may pass, but history and the people of Pakistan will never forget the faces involved in these heinous actions," PTI posted on X (formerly Twitter).
"Shah Mehmood Qureshi left the courtroom after being judicial and made a sign of victory, the slogans of the lawyers were "Who will save Pakistan, Imran Khan, Imran Khan, Agli Wari Phir Niazi," it added in a subsequent post.
The PTI leader alleged that police officials had "kicked and ridiculed" him, claiming that he wasn't taken to a doctor despite chest pains, Dawn reported.
"A team came to me saying that they wanted to record a statement on the May 9 violence. These people want to nominate me in cases related to May 9," he said. "I was in Karachi on May 9...my wife was undergoing surgery (that day)."
The PTI vice chairman also alleged that he was kept in a cold cell last night and wasn't allowed to sleep. "I was tortured mentally and physically," he claimed.
