Marriyum urges PTI leadership not to politicise Fawad's arrest

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry was arrested for threatening the officials of a state institution, urging PTI leadership "not to politicise the arrest" as no political party was part of the case, Aaj News reported.

Addressing a presser, Marriyum said the case against Fawad was not filed by any political party, but by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

"Fawad threatened to hold ECP officials accountable for merely doing their job," she said, stressing that PTI leadership has threatened every state institution for months.

Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Interior and Legal Affairs Attaullah Tarar said that the incumbent government did not believe in political revenge and victimization but those threatening the officials of constitutional bodies would have to face legal action.

He said that Islamabad police registered the First Information Report (FIR) against Fawad Chaudhry following the application of the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He said that the PTI leader used objectionable language and even threatened the head of ECP, its members, officials, and even their families in his interaction with the media in Lahore.

The pressers of the PML-N leaders, defending the police's decision to arrest Fawad, come after PTI leader Farrukh Habib said the caretaker provincial government in Punjab was taking vindictive measures on the direction of the federal government.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Farrukh said the federal government considers itself above the law of the land as he accused the government of defying the Lahore High Court's (LHC) orders to produce Fawad Chaudhry.

Earlier, PTI's Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry was arrested from his residence in Lahore.

He was brought to Lahore’s Cantt where the judicial magistrate granted police his transit remand to Islamabad.

But later, the LHC directed the police to present the politician in Lahore.

Hearing a petition about Fawad's arrest, the LHC summoned the Inspector Generals (IGs) of Punjab and Islamabad police and adjourned the hearing till 6 pm this evening.