Islamabad court reserves ruling on plea to extend Gill’s physical remand - Pakistan

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Friday reserved its decision on a plea by capital police seeking the physical custody of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill for another eight days. The court is expected to announce its ruling shortly. Gill, who has been arrested in connection with the FIR registered against him for allegedly inciting mutiny among armed forces, was produced before Judicial Magistrate Raja Farrukh Ali Khan following the expiry of his two-day remand. He was taken to court in an ambulance from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), where he was shifted late on Wednesday night after he complained of breathing problems amid reports of him being subjected to torture while in police custody. Footage from outside the courtroom showed officials crowding around Gill as he arrived in a wheelchair. Gill also appeared to be having difficulty breathing. During the hearing, the police asked the court to extend the PTI leader’s physical remand for another eight days. The judicial magistrate noted that the court had previously granted the police two-day physical remand of Gill. “Why are you making a request for eight [more] days?” he asked. The judge also questioned whether the previous physical remand remained “uninitiated”. “Was the earlier two-day remand technically uninitiated? Were police able to investigate during the two days’ time?” He also asked police to clarify whether they were asking for a new remand or seeking an extension of the previous one.

The controversy

On August 9, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) had issued a show-cause notice to ARY News for airing comments from Gill, that it said were “highly hateful and seditious” remarks tantamount to “incite armed forces towards revolt”. The notice went on to say that Gill was invited via a telephonic call for his comments and during his talk with the channel, Gill had alleged that the government was trying to provoke the lower and middle tier of the army against the PTI, saying the families of such “rank and file” support Imran Khan and his party “which is fuelling rage within the government”. He had also alleged that the “strategic media cell” of the ruling PML-N was spreading false information and fake news to create divisions between PTI chief Imran Khan and the armed forces. Gill had said the government leaders, including Javed Latif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq, had lambasted the army in the past “and they were at the government positions now”. “The statement made by the guest on ARY News is a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution as well as Pemra laws. Airing of such content on your news channel shows either weak editorial control on the content or the licensee is intentionally indulged in providing its platform to such individuals who intend to spread malice and hatred against state institutions for their vested interests,” the watchdog stated. “Dr Gill tried to malign the federal government, claiming the government functionaries are spearheading a campaign through social media cell for propagating anti-army narrative,” the authority said.

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More to follow

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