An Islamabad court on Tuesday extended the physical remand of PTI Senator Azam Swati for four days till December 3.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Swati over the weekend on Sunday — the second time in less than two months — over strongly worded tweets against senior military officials.
Separate FIRs were registered against the PTI leader in Balochistan and Sindh as well for using “derogatory language” and “provoking the people against the army”. Following the arrest, the Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority (Pemra) prohibited media coverage of Swati on all satellite TV channels.
Swati was not present for today’s hearing which was presided over by Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Bashir. Babar Awan, Swati’s lawyer, contended that the senator faced life threats and should therefore be exempted from appearing in court.
Accepting the request, the judge directed the authorities concerned to present the senator in court via video link for the next hearing.
On the other hand, the FIA’s counsel requested to extend Swati’s remand for six more days as further investigation was required into the senator’s mobile phone and Twitter account.
However, the judge turned down the request and instead granted the FIA physical remand of the PTI leader for another four days. The hearing was later adjourned.
