ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Wednesday a case filed against a close aide of ex-premier Imran Khan was “not political” and he had been arrested for “challenging the state.”

Aurangzeb was speaking about the Wednesday morning arrest of Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in Lahore over a complaint by the election regulator that he had “threatened” officials of the election commission and their families in a recent TV interview on Tuesday.

“If we had to file a political case, then the first two rows of the opposition benches would all be in jail,” Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said at a press conference, referring to top leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Aurangzeb said the case had been filed against Hussain because he openly threatened the chief election commission and other officials of the polls regulator as well as their family members.

“We can’t give 220 million people of Pakistan this freedom to say whatever they want about state institutions,” he said.

The police case filed against Hussain refers to an interview he gave to the 92 News channel on Tuesday evening in which the complainant, the secretary of the ECP, said the PTI leader had “threatened the chief election commissioner, other members of the election commission and their families through his speech and tried to obstruct the state’s election process.”

“A permanent threat has been created for the lives of election commission members and their families through this speech … The accused has tried to create a mutiny and differences among the state institutions, so that a wedge should be created between the public and the institutions.”

Pakistani prime minister’s aid on interior and legal affairs, Attaullah Tarar, told reporters Hussain had “challenged the state of Pakistan” and would “be dealt with according to the constitution and the laws.”

 “Who gave him [Hussain] the authority to threaten people … If he is not stopped, then the judiciary and institutions will be threatened in every street and every corner.”

He said Hussain would be brought to Islamabad from Lahore and presented before a court by 6pm.

“I just want to appeal to the chief justice of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan and chief minister of Punjab to please take suo moto [notice] of this case,” Hiba Fawad, the arrested leader’s wife, told Arab News.

Since Khan was ousted from the PM’s office in a parliamentary vote of no confidence, his party has refused to recognize the government of PM Shehbaz Sharif and held rallies and protests calling for early general elections.

Ex-PM Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has strongly criticized the government for arresting Hussain, asking the president and top judiciary to take notice of the situation amid a break out of protests in different parts of the country.

“I am asking President Arif Alvi to stand up for justice,” PTI leader and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari said at a news conference in Islamabad. “You are the president so you will have to stand up and take a position against them [the government]. Even if your powers are on paper, you still have them, so why are you silent?”

Alvi contested the last general election on a PTI ticket before Khan nominated him to become the president.

According to Pakistan’s constitution, the president is a ceremonial head of state who represents the federation and is not bound by party policies.

Mazari also urged the chief justice of the Supreme Court “to do something about the abduction of politicians.”

“We respect our courts, but how long will the judiciary remain silent,” she asked. “You are seeing the law being trampled, but you are not taking action.”

Mazari condemned the government for persecuting political rivals and defended Hussain’s statement against the ECP as “political rhetoric [which] is part of democracy.”

While the PTI challenged Hussain’s detention in a petition filed at the Lahore High Court, protests erupted in and around his hometown of Jhelum in Punjab province and on a major highway running through the country.

One such demonstration near a central highway was baton-charged where Hussain’s brother, Faraz Chaudhry, was detained by police along with other PTI workers.