Police disregard ATC order, re-arrest freed PTI workers from outside court
Pakistan
Police re-arrested the workers from outside the Judicial Complex when they were leaving the court
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Showing disregard to the anti-terrorism court (ATC) order, police on Saturday night re-arrested several workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who were freed by the court.
Police re-arrested the workers from outside the Judicial Complex when they were leaving the court. Some of the workers, who were inside the complex along with the PTI lawyers, avoided being re-arrested.
Advocate Ansar Kayani said that the court has been informed about re-arrest of several workers and the court order is being awaited.
It may be recalled that the court had warned police that if the freed workers were re-arrested, the officers would be handcuffed as well.
COURT DISCHARGES 32
Earlier, the Islamabad ATC discharged 32 worker arrested in connection with the PTI protests, clearing them of the charges.
The accused were brought before the ATC late at night after being sent for an identification parade.
The case was heard by ATC Judge Abulhasnat Zulqarnain. Although the police had claimed that the arrests were made by the I-9 and Margalla police stations, the accused were brought to the court from Jhelum Jail, which led to the judge expressing displeasure.
During the proceedings, the police argued that the accused were arrested on November 25 and the identification parade had not yet been conducted. The police requested a 30-day physical remand for each of the accused.
However, the defense lawyer contested the request, stating that there had been no identification parade and the police request for remand was unjustified.
The counsel further argued that the police had picked up labourers from their homes just to meet arrest quotas, involving them in the protest case.
After hearing the arguments, the judge ordered their release by discharging them from the case. The judge ordered to remove their handcuffs in the courtroom and set them free.
