On Friday, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered that all first information reports (FIRs) filed in the province against Senator Azam Swati of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should be declared void.
The court was hearing Swati’s son’s request to have the charges against his father dismissed.
For his controversial tweets against senior military officers, Swati was the subject of five FIRs in Balochistan. The PTI leader was the target of FIRs that were filed in Kuchlak, Hub, Zhob, as well as two other regions of the province. The BHC had earlier this week instructed the province not to file any additional proceedings against Swati.
The court decided today’s session will result in the cancellation of every FIR filed in the province against the PTI senator. He had been taken into custody by the Balochistan police in Islamabad and sent to Quetta.
The senator was being held at the time of his arrest on judicial custody in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after being arrested twice in connection with a controversial tweet on November 27. The police then transferred him to Quetta on a transit remand. The senator then went to the BHC, which ruled that no new cases should be filed against him. The court had also requested from the police chief a detailed report of the charges brought against the ill Swati during the previous hearing.
Controversial Tweets Cases
Swati has been arrested in numerous incidents across the country as a result of his controversial tweets about military leaders. He was originally arrested in connection with a controversial tweet that he sent out on his official Twitter account in October, which contained threats against the army leader, the judiciary, and other state institutions. In such case, the senator obtained bail. But on November 27, the Federal Investigation Agency arrested him once more for disrespecting high military figures, including the army head at the time.
