The attorney of Shehryar Afridi, a leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), asserted in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday that his client has been confined in what he referred to as a “death cell”.
This statement was made during a hearing concerning the PTI leader’s arrest. Sher Afzal Marwat, Afridi’s counsel, petitioned Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir to move Afridi to an A-class prison facility.
Marwat further sought a court-ordered medical examination for Afridi, stating that his client had sustained a fall during his arrest, causing paralysis in his left arm.
The state counsel informed the court that Afridi is also being probed in connection with an I-9 case.
The court expressed an interest in examining Afridi’s medical records and promised to deliver a fitting verdict on the petition filed by Afridi’s brother. The hearing was postponed until June 2.
Afridi, the former minister, was taken into custody on May 16. The PTI party maintains that Afridi was “abducted” from Islamabad, allegedly along with his wife, who does not have any political affiliations.
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The PTI’s official Twitter handle for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa shared, “Former Interior Minister Shehryar Afridi has been detained this time, not alone, but with his wife, under the current authoritarian regime.”
It’s reported that Afridi’s arrest was executed under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960, which authorizes the government to detain individuals whose actions could potentially jeopardize public safety.
