September 12, 2023
LAHORE
An Islamabad court on Tuesday, September 12, granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a two-day physical remand for Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader and former MNA Ali Wazir.
Wazir had been granted bail by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in a terror funding case on September 11, however, he was swiftly rearrested by the FIA following his release from Adiala Jail.
His lawyer, Attaullah Kundi, informed Voicepk.net that plainclothes individuals apprehended the former MNA as soon as he stepped out of jail.
“We later came to know that he was taken away by FIA personnel and that he was arrested under an FIR containing sections 9 and 10 of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and sections 500 and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC),”
he said.
The FIR, a copy of which is available with Voicepk.net, charges Ali Wazir and other PTM members including Manzoor Pashteen with “sharing, propagating, and glorifying highly intimidating and offensive content/videos/tweets on social media or Twitter.”
It alleges that the accused knowingly shared false, misleading, and baseless information that could incite various groups, including military personnel, to mutiny or sedition.
Additionally, it claims that such content could induce fear or alarm in the public and potentially incite offenses against the state or its institutions.
Wazir has been in custody in one way or another since his first arrest in Islamabad on August 20 2023. He was accused of criticizing the state’s anti-terrorism policies during a PTM rally in Islamabad on August 19.
‘Chaotic discourse under constitutional freedoms not allowed’
In response to a question by journalist and anchorperson Munizae Jahangir about Wazir’s continuous arrests in various cases, caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar stated that no one is allowed to spread chaos under the guise of constitutional freedoms.
“Freedom of assembly and speech is everyone’s inherent right, and everyone including Ali Wazir is free to participate in peaceful dialogue or discourse. However, generating chaotic discourse using these basic rights is unacceptable, and such behavior should be discouraged through available legal tools,” he stated.
‘Caretaker is a thin veil on Martial Law’
Reacting to Kakar’s remarks, rights activist and former senator Afrasiab Khattak said that “the caretaker government is in fact a thin veil for an undeclared martial law.”
He added that when the Prime Minister makes such statements, it implies that any narrative other than the government’s will not be tolerated.
Khattak further noted that “in previous years, we witnessed thousands of TTP terrorists being relocated to Pakistan under the guise of peace talks and rehabilitation, leading to a war in tribal areas with hundreds of casualties among security personnel as well as civil society members. Curiously, relocating terrorists is not considered a crime, but criticizing the state’s policy is labeled an act of terrorism.”
Khattak also suggested that Wazir’s continuous detention might be an attempt to prevent him from contesting the next elections.
