Azam Swati, a senator from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is accused of defaming military officials in his tweets, and the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Tuesday ordered that no additional complaints against him be filed.
On a plea requesting that the cases against Swati be dropped, a two-member BHC panel made up of Justice Kamran Khan Mulakhail and Justice Aamir Rana issued the ruling. Osman Swati, Swati’s son, filed the petition.
In addition, the court has asked the police head to submit a written summary of the charges brought against Swati.
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Swati was given to police on Sunday by a court in Quetta for a five-day physical remand in the case. The Balochistan Police detained the PTI lawmaker in Islamabad and sent him to Quetta.
He had previously been placed on judicial remand in Adiala Jail as of the time of his arrest after being detained twice in connection with a contentious tweet sent on November 27. The police then transferred him to Quetta on a transit remand.
The Case
Azam Swati has been arrested in numerous cases as a result of his divisive tweets about military authorities.
He was initially detained in connection with a contentious tweet on October 14 after publishing a message on his official Twitter account that was extremely threatening and hostile toward the army leader, the judiciary, and other state institutions.
In such case, the senator obtained bail. But on November 27, the FIA detained him once more for abusing senior military figures, including the previous army chief.
PTI has denounced his detention and “torture,” and Swati has petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) out of concern for “custodial killing.”
PTI Chairman Imran Khan criticised the Balochistan police’s most recent arrest of Swati, claiming that it was “endangering” to him and that Swati had “serious chest pain and breathing troubles” when Quetta police removed him from the hospital and transported him to an unidentified location.
Equally outrageous is what is being considered such a great crime would in entire civilised world be considered his democratic right to criticise. He must be released immediately. Sad to see our justice system unwilling to stop repeated violations of Swati's basic human rights.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 2, 2022