PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry in two-day police remand
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry was arrested on Wednesday from his Lahore residence after he publicly threatened the members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) while talking to the media outside of Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence. He had said that the government is plotting an arrest of the former premier and PTI’s chairman Imran Khan.
The police had shifted Fawad Chaudhry to the federal capital Islamabad from Lahore after obtaining a transitional remand where he was presented in the court. The Islamabad police has asked for an eight-day physical remand which was not granted by the court. The PTI leader will be presented in the court on January 27th.
The police have transferred the ex-federal minister to the Counter Terrorism Department’s complex. He was also taken to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a checkup and was declared fit.
The FIR was registered against Fawad Chaudhry under sections 153-A (promotion of enmity between groups), 506 (criminal intimidation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and 124-A (sedition) of the Pakistan Penal Code at Islamabad’s Kohsar Police Station.
When presented in front of the court, the ECP panel argued that, “The aim of the speech was to spread hatred against the election commission. We also have electronic evidence against Fawad Chaudhry.”
The ex-Federal Minister however in defense said, “I was misquoted [by the media].”
He also called his arrest “illegal” and added, “I am a senior lawyer, parliamentarian, and a former federal minister. I am not a terrorist. Moreover, the investigation officer did not interrogate me.”