Pakistan: PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi implicated in over dozen May 9 cases

Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the vice chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was arrested again, and as a result, Pakistan police have linked him to at least 12 separate charges that the district police have opened in relation to the incident on May 9. He was placed on two weeks of remand at Adiala Jail by a magistrate on Thursday in connection with an attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The former foreign minister was sentenced to two weeks in prison after the judge denied the Punjab police’s request for a 30-day remand. After declaring that he had been “mentally and physically tortured” in prison, PTI Vice Chairman Qureshi was taken by the police on Wednesday. According to Dawn, he was being held in connection with the May 9 attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ). The PTI leader has allegedly been named by the Rawalpindi police in 12 separate FIRs that have been filed with the district police in relation to the violence on May 9. The PTI leader was brought to the court of Magistrate Syed Jhangeer Ali in the judicial complex in an armoured police vehicle. Furthermore, Dawn claims that although Qureshi was shackled when he appeared in court, the magistrate gave the police the order to take off his handcuffs. Reportedly, he was produced in the judicial complex amid high-security measures and the media were also not allowed to enter the courtroom. Later, the police drove him to jail following the court’s order for his judicial remand. Qureshi stated at the beginning of the hearing that he wished to have his statement recorded. He told the judge that although his bail in the Cypher case had been authorised by the Supreme Court, he had to be detained under the Maintenance of Public Order before being released. He was then taken into custody from the prison in a new case. The PTI leader alleged that despite having chest pains, the police had kicked and made fun of him. He further said that he had not been transported to a hospital. “A team came to me saying that they wanted to record a statement in connection with the May 9 violence. These people want to nominate me in cases related to May 9. I was in Karachi on May 9 … my wife was undergoing surgery,” he said. He further highlighted that he was kept in a cold cell last night and was not allowed to sleep. “I was tortured mentally,” he added. Shah Mehmood Qureshi was detained again outside the Adiala Jail on Wednesday. Last week, the Pakistan Supreme Court granted Qureshi bail in the Cypher case. The party later distributed the video, which showed Qureshi being physically abused outside the jail, from inside its grounds. The PTI earlier on Thursday denounced the detention and “torture” of the party’s vice chairman, Qureshi, and further sought the Supreme Court to consider the case on a suo motu basis. PTI referred to Qureshi’s most recent arrest as “illegal,” given that the Supreme Court had granted him a bail and that the orders for his imprisonment under the 3-MPO had been quickly revoked. (With agency inputs)