PTI leader Shireen Mazari rearrested shortly after being released
Former minister's daughter says she has no idea where her mother and Senator Falak Naz have been taken
May 16, 2023
- IHC ordered Shireen Mazari, Falak Naz's release earlier today.
- Mazari's daughter says PTI leaders arrested from outside jail.
- "We have no idea where they have been taken," she says.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari was rearrested minutes after being released from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) orders, her daughter Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir said.
Senator Falak Naz, who was also released on the high court's order, was rearrested as well.
"Senator Falak Naz's family and I (& our lawyer) were waiting outside Adiala Jail to receive ama and Falak Naz. Islamabad Police arrested them from outside the jail while we were waiting outside the exit they told us to wait at. We have no idea where they have been taken," Mazari-Hazir tweeted.
The rearrest was also confirmed by the PTI's official Twitter account.
Earlier today, IHC's Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb declared Mazari's arrest under Section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) illegal and ordered her release.
The decision was announced on a petition filed by the former human rights minister's daughter.
During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel Zainab Janjua informed the court that the district magistrate ordered Mazari's arrest fearing that she may cause the law and order situation to worsen. She added that the former minister was accused of inciting PTI workers.
However, her client had not even issued any public statement, the counsel argued. She added that the former minister's location at home could be checked through CCTV footage and call data records.
The court inquired about Mazari's age to which Janjua replied that the PTI leader was 72 years old and had medical issues as well.
At this point, the deputy commissioner, who was acting as the district magistrate, appeared in court.
However, the DC's failure to come up with the record irked the court and it ordered the official to appear with the material based on which the detention order was issued.
The court then took a break.
Once the hearing resumed, the high court declared the former human rights minister's detention illegal.
The bench also ordered the release of Senator Naz who was arrested under the same law as Mazari.
Both Mazari and Naz were arrested during the countrywide riots that erupted after PTI Chairman Imran Khan's arrest on May 9.
