Imaan Mazari rearrested hours after getting bail in sedition case

Imaan Mazari rearrested hours after getting bail in sedition case

Islamabad (Web Desk): Human rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari was rearrested on Monday shortly after her release from Adiala Jail following her bail granted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in sedition case.

Imaan was arrested in a case registered in Islamabad's Barakahu police station.

According to reports, the rights activist was taken into custody for a case registered against her under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

In a statement, Imaan's lawyer said that police did not inform them about the case in which Mazari had been arrested.

The development comes after an ATC in the federal capital today granted bail to Imaan Mazari and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Ali Wazir in a sedition case.

ATC Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain heard the plea and approved post-arrest bail of Imaan and Wazir against surety bonds of Rs30,000 each.

The two were arrested on August 20 in a sedition case related to the controversial speech against the state institutions and sent on physical remand after they were accused of delivering a controversial speech at the PTM’s public rally.

Police presented Imaan and Wazir before the court next day and sought a 10-day physical remand of the suspects in the cases registered against them after they delivered a controversial speech at a recent PTM's public rally in the federal capital.

The court granted police three-day physical remand of Imaan and Wazir.

On August 24, an Islamabad ATC had rejected the prosecution’s request to extend Imaan and Wazir’s physical remand in the sedition case and sent the two to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on judicial remand.

The first FIR was registered on the complaint of Tarnol Station House Officer (SHO) Mian Mohammad Imran under Sections 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 395 (punishment for dacoity), 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for causing death or hurt) and 506ii (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

As per the FIR, the complainant was present with other police officers at Tarnol Phatak Chowk to maintain peace and calm during a rally of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). It said that the rally led by PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen, including Wazir and Imaan, began moving from the spot allocated to it in violation of its no-objection certificate.