report in The Frontier Post, Aug 20, 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was arrested again, the party claimed on Saturday. According to PTI’s official Twitter account, Shah Mahmood Qureshi was arrested by a heavy contingent of police from his residence in Islamabad.
According to the party, the former foreign minister was being transferred to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Headquarters. According to details, Qureshi was arrested by FIA in the lost cipher case in which he was also nominated along with PTI chairman Imran Khan.
He was summoned by the FIA for the investigation but he could not appear before the FIA. His arrest came a day after the news emerged of PTI’s effort led by Qureshi to apprise the foreign countries’ envoys and gain their support against the recent crackdown against the party and its leadership. Earlier on Saturday, Qureshi addressed a press conference in the federal capital to denounce the crackdown of police on his party and condemned the high-handedness of police for confiscating houses, businesses and properties of party leader Usman Dar in Sialkot.
He also negated any notion that there was any change in the leadership was discussed during the core committee meetings and reposed his full confidence in PTI chairman Imran Khan’s leadership. Qureshi’s arrest comes a little over two months after his release in a case pertaining to May 9 protests, which erupted following the arrest of party chairman Imran Khan in a graft case. He was taken into custody on May 11 by the Islamabad police on multiple charges, including “inciting violent protests”.
On May 18, the Islamabad High Court had ordered the former foreign minister’s release. However, his release was delayed due to his apparent reluctance to provide an undertaking to refrain from engaging in “unruly” protests. When Qureshi was finally set free on May 23, he was again taken into custody by Punjab police from outside Adiala Jail after his detention orders were issued by the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner.
He was eventually released on June 6 after Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench ordered his immediate release and set aside his detention orders. PTI Secretary General Ayub condemned Qureshi’s arrest, saying: “Had hoped that the reign of lawlessness would have ended after the exit of the fascist PDM government, but it appears that this caretaker government wants to break the records of their predecessor fascist government.” PTI leader Farrukh Habib claimed Qureshi was arrested for “expressing the party’s position in a press conference and for attending a tea of foreign ambassadors recently”.
Without naming anyone, he added: “They want to … silence all voices by any means. The protection of personal freedom given in the Constitution of Pakistan has been abolished, the Constitution has been suspended.” In his condemnation, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance minister Taimur Jhagra questioned: “ Is it a coincidence that Qureshi was arrested after a press conference of the right sort, that presented his party’s stance? Is it a coincidence that just earlier today, rumours had been deliberately circulated that there were differences between Qureshi and Ayub? … Is it that despite every attempt, PTI has not broken and continues to stand firmly behind Imran Khan?“
Saying that Qureshi had been “available and collaborating with the judicial system and investigation agencies in all cases”, Jhagra demanded the PTI vice chairman’s immediate release. “The law should not be made a joke,” he said. PTI’s Zulfi Bukhari also maintained that Qureshi was “arrested for doing a press conference and re-affirming the PTI’s stance against all tyranny and pre-poll rigging that is going on currently in Pakistan”.
https://thefrontierpost.com/qureshi-arrested-from-his-residence-in-islamabad/
