'Azam Swati's son says he will be killed in an encounter'

LAHORE: Former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has asserted that Senator Azam Swati’s son had said his father would be killed in a police encounter, ARY News reported on Monday.

Addressing a press conference at Lahore’s Zaman Park, the former federal minister said party Chairman Imran Khan had received a phone call from Azam Swati’s son during PTI leaders’ meeting today.

“The Senator’s son urged to stop his father from appearing before court tomorrow, as he had received death threats,” he said, criticising the arrest of Azam Swati over controversial tweets.

The former federal minister also lambasted authorities for ‘arresting of killing’ people over raising their voice. “Whoever raises voice, he would either be arrested or murdered,” he said, citing example of Arshad Sharif’s murder in Kenya.

Fawad Chaudhry announced to stage protests against the arrest of PTI Senator, vowing that this party would not bow down to ‘cruelty’.

He also criticised judiciary, saying that a Senator was stripped naked and tortured; Swati’s video was sent to his children; Senators protested for 10 days, but no notice was taken by Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC).

A day earlier, a local court granted two days’ physical remand of Senator Azam Swati to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The FIA arrested the PTI senator, in a case related to controversial tweets against state institutions and was produced before the judicial magistrate today.

The investigation agency sought eight days’ physical remand of Senator Swati from duty judge Waqas Ahmed Raja. The FIA prosecutor and PTI’s Babar Awan and Faisal Chaudhry advocate appeared before the court.

The Judge earlier reserved his decision over the FIA plea for physical remand of Azam Swati. Later, the judicial magistrate granted two days’ physical remand of Swati to the FIA.

It is pertinent to mention here that Azam Swati has been arrested for second time in the same case over a month after he secured post-arrest bail from a court in the capital city.

“The charge of instigation for sedition requires more inquiry under the relevant clauses,” the court had observed in a written judgment.

“The intention and objective of the petitioner’s tweet will prove after recording evidence in the trial,” the court said, adding that the accused is a 74-year-old man and has no criminal record.