ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Dr. Arif Alvi on Wednesday condemned police’s move to re-arrest former prime minister Imran Khan’s key aide, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in an “undignified manner,” urging authorities to take notice of the matter.
Alvi’s statement came hours after Qureshi, who also served as foreign minister during Khan’s government from 2018-2022, was manhandled whilst he was re-arrested by police shortly after his release from prison in a high-profile case. He was incarcerated at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where he was facing a prison trial with the ex-premier on charges of leaking state secrets.
The case against him and Khan pertains to an alleged diplomatic correspondence between Washington and Islamabad that Khan says was proof that his ouster as PM in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April 2022 was part of a US conspiracy to remove him. Washington has repeatedly denied the accusation.
“Incidents of paper snatching, brutal action on protesters, and now treating an ex foreign minister from two regimes in an undignified manner must draw the attention of the authorities,” Alvi wrote on social media platform X.
Alvi said detracting arguments that similar incidents happened before “do not cut ice,” adding that if Pakistan wanted to change, there is no better time than now.
“Let us not become a state where human rights & dignity are trampled upon with impunity,” he said.
Earlier, Qureshi was detained for 15 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law after a notification was circulated by the Deputy Commissioner of Rawalpindi, though Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said the instruction was later rescinded.
In a statement, the PTI said Qureshi’s treatment at police’s hands was a “sign of cowardice” of Pakistan’s ruling elite.
“The law has been turned into a joke and the basic constitutional rights of citizens are being blatantly violated,” the party said.
The PTI has said its leaders have been deliberately targeted by the state that wants to eliminate the party from the country’s political landscape ahead of general elections in February.
It has also complained that its candidates have found it difficult to file their nomination papers in different parts of Pakistan while calling for a “level playing field”— a euphemism for fair chance for all political parties— to ensure transparent national polls.
As Qureshi was taken to the prison van, he pleaded innocent in all the cases against him.
“The Supreme Court order has been mocked,” he said before sitting in the police vehicle. “The Supreme Court released me and they are arresting me again in a false case. I have represented the nation. I am innocent. And I am being targeted for political revenge.”
It was widely reported by local media that Qureshi was arrested for interrogation in the May 9 case, referring to the incident when violence broke out in different parts of Pakistan when former prime minister Khan was briefly arrested from a court on graft charges.
Hundreds of people carrying PTI flags targeted government buildings – including a top general’s residence in Lahore and the army headquarters in Rawalpindi – and indulged in rioting and arson activities.
The PTI also faced a massive crackdown after the incident, with several of its top leaders quitting the party after being arrested by the law enforcement authorities.
