Lt Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib sent on three-day physical remand

• Prosecution requests seven-day physical remand.
• Prosecutor says ex-general tried spreading hate between govt, opposition and govt employees.
• Lawyer tells court they require former general's photogrammetric test.

ISLAMABAD: A local court in the federal capital on Monday rejected the police's plea and approved a three-day physical remand of Lieutenant General (retd) Amjad Shoaib.

The former military officer was presented in the court of Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah today after he was arrested by the Islamabad Police early this morning on charges of inciting the public against national institutions.

During the hearing, the prosecution informed the court about the case registered against the former three-star general and requested a seven-day physical remand.

Prosecutor Adnan contended that the ex-general, through his statement on TV, tried to spread hate between the government, the opposition and the government employees.

The lawyer also told the court that they require a photogrammetric test of the former military officer and have to take him to Lahore for the purpose. 

The prosecutor then requested the court to approve seven-day physical remand of Lt Gen (retd) Shoaib. 

Meanwhile, Lt Gen (retd) Shoaib’s lawyer Mudassir Khalid Abbasi opposed the physical remand request and instead urged the court to discharge the case.

“The sections inserted in the FIR do not apply to Amjad Shoaib,” said the lawyer. He added that his client only gave an example of a certain situation.

The lawyer also contended that the case against Shoaib was registered on "political grounds", adding that his client was also being harassed.  

“If legitimate criticism is wrong then eliminate opposition from the system,” argued Abbasi.

Shoaib’s other lawyer Qaiser Imam told the court that the former military officer had admitted uttering the words and there was no need to conduct photogrammetric and voice matching tests.

However, the prosecution told the magistrate that it was necessary for the trial to carry out the tests.

Moving on, Riasat Ali Azad, Shoaib’s third lawyer, told the court that his client is a patriot. He also shared that his client had fought the 1965 and 1971 wars.

All three lawyers of the former military officer then requested the court to discharge the case. While the prosecution opposed the request to discharge the case.

The court then reserved its verdict. 

The arrest

Earlier today, cops from the Ramna police station apprehended the former army officer from his residence in the federal capital after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him.

The FIR was registered against Lt Gen (retd) Shoaib on February 25 at Islamabad’s Ramna Police Station.

The FIR was registered under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

According to the FIR, filed on the complaint of Islamabad Magistrate Owais Khan, the former army officer incited people to revolt against institutions and attempted to provoke disharmony, and anarchy and create a law and order situation in the country through his controversial statements made on a TV show.

"Through his remarks and analysis, Lt Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib has provoked government employees against carrying out their official duties. The aim of his controversial advice to the people, government employees and an opposition party is to comments is to promote enmity among the people."

The statement of the former military official, the FIR stated, is part of a "planned conspiracy" to weaken the country.

Lt Gen (retd) Shoaib was previously summoned by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to appear on September 7 after he made claims about a meeting between the Pakistani prime minister and an Israeli team. However, he failed to appear before the FIA's Cybercrimes Wing.