Safdar sent to prison as court turns down discharge plea

LAHORE: A judicial magistrate here on Tuesday sent retired captain Mohammad Safdar, son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, to prison on judicial remand for fourteen days in a case pertaining to hate speech, ARY News reported.

Judicial Magistrate Rana Asif Ali rejected a request to discharge the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader in the case.

He also rejected a plea by Punjab police to hand Safdar over to them for interrogation.

The magistrate directed the defence and prosecution sides to appear on Oct 24 to forward their arguments on a bail petition filed by the accused.

Safdar was arrested by the police late on Monday night from the motorway on the charge of issuing remarks and inciting public against the state.

The police had registered a case against him on Oct 11.

Following the arrest, last night, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Khan on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan had said: “Safdar has been taken into custody over provocative speech. Whoever takes the law into their hands will be dealt with severely.”

His arrest came at a time when Nawaz Sharif was rushed to the Services Hospital amid strict security for a medical checkup after his personal physician took to Twitter, expressing concern over the former premier’s low count of platelets.