Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Monday, an Islamabad district and sessions court gave police two days to keep PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested in connection with a sedition case against him, in their custody.
The court told the authorities earlier today to bring Gill, who had been moved to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Friday, to court.
The court had already decided that Gill’s two-day stay in police custody, which was supposed to end on Friday, started late and was therefore still not finished. But because of reports about Gill’s health and claims that he was tortured, the court stopped giving him to the police.
Gill says he was forced to eat
Today’s hearing was led by Judicial Magistrate Malik Aman. During the hearing, Gill took the stand and asked the judge to look at everything that has been going on with him.
The judge asked Gill if he had been to doctors to get checked out. The leader of the PTI said that he had been on a hunger strike since last night and couldn’t meet with anyone.
He said that between six and seven people tried to “force-feed” him at 3 am. Gill said that 10 to 12 men also “tied him down and shaved him.”
During the hearing, Gill also said that he hadn’t been given clean clothes or a bath in the last five days. He said that clothes from his house had been sent, but that they had been taken.
Gill said he was ready to go with the police as long as he wasn’t tortured. “I should go to prison. I’m willing to help with the investigation,” he said.
The leader of the PTI said that the judge could only guess what the police had done to him. He also said that the investigation was still going on while he was in the hospital.
“You’re going to give me to them to die. After that, I won’t come back to see you. Gill told the court, “I have asthma.”
Arguments
During the hearing, Gill’s lawyer said that despite the IHC’s earlier orders, the PTI leader was not allowed to meet with his lawyers.
“Where is the IHC’s order? “After I look at that, I’ll decide what to do,” the judge said. During the trial, he also said that Gill’s health seemed to have “gotten better.”
The judge also asked where the case file and the record of the investigation were. He was upset that Gill was brought before the court without the case file.
Gill’s lawyer, Faisar Jadoon, told the judge, “The record is with the IHC since it has reserved the verdict.” He asked the court to put off the hearing for a while. He was talking about Gill’s request to the IHC that he not be kept in jail.
The judge asked Jadoon if the hearing should be put off until the case file came. The lawyer told the judge to wait until 2 p.m. The hearing was then put off by the judge’s order.
When the hearing started again at 1:30 p.m., Faisal Chaudhry and Babar Awan, two of Gill’s lawyers, were also there. Chaudhry told the judge that the police wanted Gill to be kept in custody so they could torture him more.
The judge said that he had been told that the investigation officer and the record were at the IHC. Awan told the judge that there was no record of the investigation at the high court.
At one point, the judge asked Chaudhry to give him a brief history of the case.
“A script was made from three different sources to file the case,” Chaudhry said. He added that Gill was investigated for two days, and on August 11, another case was filed.
“A cell phone is mentioned in this case. “There was a raid, and the wife of [Gill’s] driver was taken into custody,” Chaudhry said. He went on to say that 15 days had passed since the case was opened, but the interim challan had not been filed.
“They have had Gill since the first day. After barbed wires were put up around the hospital, police were sent there. Videos kept being taken inside Pims, and Gill said he was stripped naked and tortured in a statement, the lawyer said.
The judge asked Chaudhry if he had told the court about these arguments. He said that he had, and the judge agreed.
Awan said that Gill had been in the custody of the police in Islamabad for 13 days, but no one knew where he had been kept. “This is the third time someone has been sent back,” he said.
Awan said that there was “no doubt” that Gill had given Gill a beeper through a phone.
“During these 14 days, Shahbaz Gill was hurt badly. The video of [him] got out. The Awan said, “He is a professor and a citizen of the United States. His wife is also a professor.”
He then said that Gill was naked and that he didn’t want to say anything else. The lawyers for the PTI also gave the court Gill’s medical report.
During his arguments, Special Prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi said that Gill’s physical remand had not started because of his two-day stay at Pims.
“I don’t agree with hurting people physically. “Physical remand will start when the court issues the order,” Abbasi said. After Abbasi finished his case, the judge put off making a decision.
