— Judge rejects police request for week-long extension in physical remand
— Defense moves to apply for bail
ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad rejected the police request for a week-long extension in the physical remand of Shehbaz Gill, chief of staff to former prime minister Imran Khan, and instead sent him on judicial remand.
Judicial Magistrate Malik Aman heard the plea. In addition, the police also asked the court to grant his judicial remand in an arms recovery case.
Gill was arrested on August 9 after appearing on ARY News in Karachi when he allegedly incited troops and officers to mutiny.
During the broadcast, Gill, a known critic of the military, said soldiers and officers should refuse to obey “illegal orders” from the military leadership. He implied the rank and file in the military overwhelmingly supports Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in April.
After the TV interview, he was arrested and charged with treason, which under the law carries the death penalty. ARY News was taken off air and its broadcasting license was subsequently revoked. The station’s director Ammad Yousaf was briefly arrested but was later released.
Gill has since his arrest been back and forth in police custody and at the Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
He was already facing a sedition charge, but the Islamabad police — a day earlier — also registered a case against him over possession of an illegal weapon.
He was booked in the case after police raided the incarcerated PTI leader’s room in Parliament Lodges late Monday — where they recovered weapons, a satellite phone, and foreign currency.
The prosecution sought an extension in the remand, which was strongly opposed by defending lawyers. After hearing the arguments, the court reserved its verdict and announced it a few moments later.
The court sent the PTI leader on judicial remand in the treason as well as the arms recovery case.
GILL SEEKS BAIL
Speaking to the media after the verdict, Faisal Chaudhry, counsel for Gill, said the PTI leader’s legal team was going to immediately file a bail application for his release and that the case against him was based on lies.
He claimed that the remarks attributed to Gill in the first information report (FIR) were not his comments made on ARY News.
Chaudhry added he would also challenge in the Supreme Court the Islamabad High Court’s order that rejected Gill’s plea against his continued remand.
“We, as a society, need to discourage custodial torture,” he stressed.
“I accept it was a mistake that people didn’t stand up for these issues in the past […] but if no one stood up in the past, it doesn’t mean you don’t stand up today as well,” he said.
