Sheikh Rashid brought to Islamabad local court

Awami Muslim League (AML) leader and PTI ally Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was brought by police to a local court in Islamabad on Saturday after he petitioned the high court to prevent him from being bundled off to Karachi, where a fresh case was filed against him for allegedly making defamatory remarks against the PPP leadership.

He was presented before the court of Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir.

In a video posted from his verified account, he tells reporters that if anything happened to him on his way to Karachi, “Asif Zardari, Bilawal, Shehbaz, Mohsin Naqvi […]” should be held responsible.

Earlier in the day, he filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to nullify cases filed against him in Murree and Karachi, along with orders to prevent the police from taking him to Karachi until a final decision on the case is announced.

Ahmed was arrested on a police complaint filed by Raja Inayatur Rehman, the vice president of PPP Rawalpindi Division, wherein he said that the AML chief, in an interview with ARY’s Waseem Badami on Jan 27, alleged that PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari recruited terrorists to plan Imran’s murder. His remarks can be heard from the 38-second mark.

PTI chief Imran Khan in a television address on Jan 27 had alleged that Zardari was behind a fresh assassination plot — a “plan C” — and that a terror group had been engaged for the purpose. He offered no evidence to back up his accusation.

Subsequently, an Islamabad court had granted police two-day physical remand of the AML leader.

Another case was also registered against him at the Murree police station under Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public function) and 506(ii) (criminal intimidation) of the PPC for manhandling a police official at the time of the arrest.

However, it emerged on Friday that yet another case was lodged against Ahmed by Karachi’s Mochko police on the complaint of a local PPP leader. The FIR said Ahmed on social media used “extremely filthy and immoral language” against PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari while talking to the media outside Islamabad’s Polyclinic Hospital.

However, in the latest development, Ahmed submitted a plea to the IHC urging the court to bar authorities from filing new cases against him on the basis of his political statements.

The PTI ally named 11 respondents in his plea including the interior secretary, CCPO Karachi, Islamabad, and Karachi police chiefs as well as PPP’s Raja Inayat who had submitted a plea against him.

Filed through his counsel Abdul Razzaq Khan, the petition said the plaintiff was not an affected party in the case registered against Ahmed.

The petitioner urged the court to issue directions to direct authorities against shifting him to Karachi related to the case probe.

“The impugned FIRs registered at Murree and Karachi be declared as an illegal, unlawful, result of abuse of powers and misuse of authority or in the alternate, the case registered at Karachi be ordered to be shifted to Islamabad in accordance with section 234, 235 and 239 of CrPC where the case is already registered,” the petition reads.

According to the plea, the registration of cases against the petitioner “is not only the worst example of political victimisation but a gross misuse of power and transgression of authority by the police.”

‘Being sent to Karachi to be killed’

Ahmed’s nephew, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, issued a statement on Ahmed’s behalf, who claimed that he was being taken to Karachi “to be killed”. “He (Ahmed) said: ‘If anything happens to me, an FIR should be filed against Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto and Rana Sanaullah.’,” Shafique added.

Rashid to file another petition

Separately, another petition has been prepared to be submitted soon to the local magistrate court.

Naming Zardari, Bilawal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, the petition demanded they be held responsible and taken action against in case any harm was caused to Rashid.

It said: “During the arrest, if Sheikh Rashid loses his life, then the named personalities would be responsible for it. If any harm is caused to Sheikh Rashid, then action should be taken against the named suspects.”

The petition claimed that the AML chief was being “made a target of political vendettas for raising his voice for Imran Khan”.

It requested that the Punjab and Sindh inspector generals and home secretaries guarantee his life is protected.

Clampdown on PTI leaders

Ahmed’s arrest comes amid a raft of legal moves against PTI leaders and their allies. Last week, PTI Fawad Chaudhry was arrested for allegedly making threats against ECP members’ families. He later received bail.

PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi said his Gujrat house was raided. A sedition case was filed against former PTI MNA Shandana Gulzar Khan. Imran Khan-leaning journalist Imran Riaz Khan was also arrested but a Lahore court dismissed the case.

And before Ahmed’s arrest, his famed Lal Haveli residence in Rawalpindi was sealed by authorities. Two units of Lal Haveli and five adjoining units were sealed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and the FIA over “illegal occupation”.

Subsequently, Ahmed approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the move, stating that the ETPB officials were “misusing their powers under the orders of political high-ups”. Admitting his plea, the LHC ordered the board to settle matters of the property’s ownership within 15 days and also chided the ETPB for its ambiguous stance pertaining to the issue.

It is pertinent to mention that the government had distanced itself from Ahmed’s arrest. In a statement, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah asserted that the government had nothing to do with Ahmed’s arrest.

The minister said it was the duty of the police to take action in case there is a violation of law. Sanaullah said all were equal before the law and those who broke the law would be held accountable.

“Tell the court if you have not done anything illegal,” he said.