Islamabad.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Saturday released 38 supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan who were arrested for protesting last month. Police had arrested hundreds of supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who took part in the protests on 26 November. These people were going to march till Islamabad.
PTI founder and former PM Imran Khan had called on people to protest across the country on November 13. He had said that people should demand restoration of electoral mandate for the party, release of detained party members and change of the 26th Constitutional Amendment. After this, party supporters took to the streets on 26 November. Police arrested more than 1,400 people in Rawalpindi. According to Dawn newspaper, Judge Abul Hasnat Mohammad Zulqarnain heard the cases of 56 suspects on Saturday. The police had sought 20 days’ remand for the suspects. Defense lawyer Ansar Kayani objected to this. He said police had arrested the suspects from their homes before the protests. The police do not want to recover anything from the suspects. The police have only completed their number. On this the judge sent 50 persons on judicial remand and released six others. Ordered the police not to arrest him again. Geo News reported that Judge Zulqarnain heard the cases of 32 persons arrested late in the night. Police requested 30-day remand for the suspects. While defense lawyer Kiyani argued that the police had arrested innocent workers from their homes to meet the quota. Judge Zulqarnain ordered the suspects to be handcuffed in the court and released them from the cases. He gave a strict warning to the police not to arrest him again. The judge said that if the police did this again, I would handcuff them.
