Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shahzad Waseem was summoned by the Supreme Court on Sunday over his letter detailing alleged torture on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Azam Swati by the Federal Investigation Agency.
The senator was summoned on Monday at 10:00 am, by the director general of the court’s Human Rights Cell. “Waseem was summoned as per the directives of the chief justice of Pakistan,” stated DG Human Rights Cell, in regard to the information gathered through the letter written by him and other PTI senators detailing the alleged custodial torture of Swati. On October 17, PTI senators wrote to the apex court against the arrest, “torture and ill-treatment” of PTI leader and fellow senator Azam Swati during custody.Swati was taken into custody by the FIA cybercrime unit on October 13 for allegedly making ‘controversial claims’ against state institutions, including the army chief.
Almost 10 days later, a district and sessions court in Islamabad granted Swati post-arrest bail against a surety bond worth Rs1 million.The letter written by the PTI senators stated that Swati was taken into custody from his residence in Islamabad, adding that “all this was attributable to a so-called ‘controversial’ tweet posted by the senator.”
“[The tweet] was deemed a cybercrime, while many other well-known personalities who had previously availed cyberspace to say much worse things on the same subject are roaming scot-free,” it further stated.
The senators maintained that Swati was “stripped naked and tortured” while in the investigating agency’s custody. “Several of us were present when he showed to the Court the various parts of his body bearing injuries. He even informed the Judge that he had suffered injuries on his private parts, which he was ready to show to the Judge in the privacy of his retiring room,” stated the senators.The petition added that the way Swati was treated during custody was against the Constitution and human dignity.
