ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Attock on Monday extended for another two days the detention, or physical remand, of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MP Sheikh Rashid Shafique in connection with a case involving sloganeering against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation in Medina.
Shafique, nephew of Awami Muslim League (AML) leader Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, was arrested on May 1 after the Faisalabad police registered a case under the blasphemy laws against former prime minister Imran Khan and top leaders of his party, among 150, in the wake of the incident.
The first information report (FIR), lodged after midnight in Medina Town police station in Faisalabad, the home town of Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan, nominated some “100 to 150 people” for purportedly violating the sanctity of Masjid al-Nabawi, hurting the sentiments of Muslims across the globe, insulting Islam and violating its code of conduct at one of its holiest places, and hurling abuses and chanting slogans of thieves and traitors.
Shafique was the first suspect arrested in this case on his arrival from Saudi Arabia on Sunday night. He was accused of leading a delegation of PTI party workers from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia to raise political slogans at the holy mosque.
On Monday, police produced Shafique in the court of duty magistrate Jamal Mehmood amid tight security. The district court complex was sealed and even lawyers were not allowed to enter the premises.
During the hearing, the police sought an extension in the remand so that they could recover the mobile phone used to upload a video message by the MP.
The magistrate granted the police another two-day remand and directed them to produce the suspect before the court on the second day of Eid ul-Fitr.
Subsequently, the judge adjourned the hearing until May 4.
