ISLAMABAD: A special court in Islamabad said it found Senator Azam Swati of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party guilty of inciting the public to commit treason over sending out tweets criticising the interference of the military in national politics.
In a detailed six-page judgment in the case, the judge declared Swati ran a malicious campaign against the military through his Twitter handle. The judgement also said the parliamentarian attempted to incite the public against servicemen.
Arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in November, Swati was charged by the government with libel. The agency detained Swati after he pressed the former army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, on details of his ballooning financial assets.
Swati had been arrested in October as well for using “obnoxious and intimidating” language to criticise the retired general, state institutions and other government officials. At a court appearance at the time, he said that he was stripped and tortured.
Saturday’s decision further said the original tweets were retweeted many times by members of the public. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment.
The judgement noted that as the legislator repeated the offence, his request for bail was turned down.
