ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said on Wednesday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party lawmakers who were detained on Monday night had not been taken into custody from inside the National Assembly building, as the PTI announced a boycott of parliamentary sessions pending an inquiry into the circumstances of the arrests.
Pakistani police arrested several lawmakers and leaders of ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party in late night raids on Monday and early Tuesday after it held a rally in the capital on Sunday to demand his release. The PTI says a number of the MPs were detained while they were inside the parliament building. National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has opened an inquiry into the arrests as under Pakistani law, lawmakers cannot be arrested from within the precincts of parliament without the speaker’s permission.
Sunday’s PTI rally was mostly peaceful, but there were clashes between police and some PTI supporters en route to the rally venue, in which one police officer was injured. The rally also went on longer than the 7pm deadline given by the district administration, a violation under the recently passed Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024, which allows authorities to set time limits for public gatherings and designate special areas to hold them. The Islamabad administration had allowed the PTI to hold Sunday’s rally from 4pm till 7pm but the gathering went on until nearly 11pm.
Police have said the PTI MPs have been detained over violations of the new law.
“Some evidence came forward that no one was picked up from inside the House,” Tarar, the federal government’s spokesperson, said while addressing the National Assembly session on Wednesday. “The video evidence is available showing recording at the pickets outside.”
However, Tarar also added that the government would back the National Assembly speaker’s decision to open an investigation into the arrests.
PTI leaders rejected Tarar’s statement, with Chairman Gohar saying masked men had used walkie-talkies to communicate the movements of PTI party leaders inside parliament before escorting them to the main gate.
“Masked men came [inside], they opened all the doors. Who had the keys to open the doors? Who switched off the lights?” Gohar, who was arrested on Monday night but released on Tuesday, said.
He said the PTI would boycott parliamentary sessions until it was “satisfied” with the results of an inquiry into the arrests.
“We will not even come to your committees. This is our protest.”
Gohar also requested the house that the arrested PTI MNAs be produced in the ongoing session of the National Assembly today, Wednesday:
“This was your order and is the minimum you should do.”
The PTI says it has faced an over year-long crackdown since protesters allegedly linked to the party attacked and damaged government and military installations on May 9, 2023, after Khan’s brief arrest that day in a land graft case. Hundreds of PTI followers and leaders were arrested following the riots and many remain behind bars as they await trial. The military, which says Khan and his party were behind the attacks, has also initiated army court trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence.
The party says it was not allowed to campaign freely ahead of the Feb. 9 general election, a vote marred by a mobile Internet shutdown on election day and unusually delayed results, leading to accusations that it was rigged and drawing concern from rights groups and foreign governments.
The PTI says it won the most seats, but its mandate was “stolen” by PM Shebaz Sharif’s coalition government which formed the government with the backing of the all-powerful military. Both deny the claim.
Khan, jailed since last August, was ousted from the PM’s office in 2022 in a parliamentary vote of no confidence after what is widely believed to be a falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military, which denies being involved in politics. Since his removal, Khan and his party have waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military and now the PTI is aiming to mobilize the public through public rallies to call for their leader’s release from jail in “politically motivated” cases.
The ex-PM faces a slew of legal charges and was convicted in four cases since he was first taken into custody, all of which have been either suspended or overturned by the courts. He remains in jail, however, on new charges brought by Pakistan’s national accountability watchdog regarding the illegal sale of gifts from a state repository while Khan was prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
