By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Lower courts issued non-bailable arrest warrants on Tuesday for two senior figures from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Aleema Khanum, sister of jailed party founder Imran Khan, in separate cases linked to alleged misleading statements and protest-related violence.
In Islamabad, Senior Civil Judge Abbas Shah ordered the immediate arrest of Afridi after he failed to appear for a hearing in a case brought by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Authority (NCCIA) under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016. The authority accused the chief minister of making false and defamatory claims against state institutions that damaged their reputation.
Court records showed Afridi had been summoned multiple times but did not attend, prompting the judge to issue the warrant and direct law enforcement to produce him in court. The hearing was adjourned until Feb. 21. This marked the second such warrant against Afridi in the case. Last month, the same court had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant, describing his repeated absences as a deliberate effort to evade legal proceedings despite ample opportunities to respond.
The first information report (FIR) against Afridi was filed on Nov. 9, 2025, stemming from comments he made during a media interaction outside Adiala Jail on Nov. 6. In those remarks, Afridi claimed security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had brought dogs into mosques and tied them there, an allegation that drew sharp criticism for purportedly disrespecting religious sites.
An inquiry completed on Nov. 8 found that Afridi and others had “knowingly and deliberately, with mala fide intentions and ulterior motives,” issued false, misleading, derogatory and intimidating statements against state institutions. The remarks were captured in a video that was uploaded to the PTI’s YouTube channel and shared widely on social media.
According to the FIR, the video included “offensive, profane, false, misleading and unfounded allegations” aimed at maligning and defaming state institutions while harming their reputation and integrity. Investigators further charged that the content was part of a coordinated effort to erode public confidence in state bodies, stir unrest, foster racial hatred and threaten national security.
Afridi also faces accusations of creating, publishing, sharing and circulating fabricated and deceptive material on social media platforms with the goal of provoking violence, generating panic, fear, disorder and anti-state feelings that could undermine Pakistan’s security, integrity and stability.
Separately, in Rawalpindi, Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Amjad Ali Shah issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Aleema Khanum in a case tied to the Nov. 26, 2025, PTI protests, registered at Sadiqabad police station. The judge noted there was no valid reason for her non-appearance and that she had not requested an exemption.
Khanum’s lawyer, Faisal Malik, was also absent from the hearing, leading the court to move forward without them. The judge approved a prosecution request to add NCCIA official Salman Niaz as a witness and postponed the session until Wednesday.
Earlier in the proceedings, the ATC rejected Khanum’s application to drop terrorism charges, affirming that the case qualified under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The defence had contended that charges related to protests did not belong in an anti-terrorism court, but Judge Shah upheld the jurisdiction.
Prosecutors allege Khanum conveyed a message from her brother Imran Khan, who is incarcerated at Adiala Jail, urging nationwide protests that they say escalated into violence. Special Prosecutor Zaheer Shah told the court that the Faizabad demonstration became chaotic, with police officers injured and shots fired at a police vehicle, meeting the criteria for terrorism offenses.
Shah also accused the defence of using stalling strategies, such as requesting delays amid a lawyers’ strike.In related developments, the court directed the unfreezing of bank accounts for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust and Namal University, stating that prosecutors had not sought to freeze them.
The Nov. 26 protests involved PTI supporters advancing toward Islamabad in defiance of government bans, resulting in confrontations with security forces in the capital’s Red Zone. Authorities subsequently lodged several cases under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 7 of the ATA at police stations in Taxila, Sadiqabad and Naseerabad.
Proceedings in the Sadiqabad case are ongoing at the ATC in Rawalpindi. The warrants come amid heightened tensions between the PTI and the government, with the party facing a series of legal challenges since Imran Khan’s ouster as prime minister in 2022. PTI officials have repeatedly denounced such actions as politically motivated, though courts have proceeded based on the presented evidence.
Afridi, as chief minister of the northwestern province bordering Afghanistan, has been a vocal critic of federal authorities, often aligning with PTI’s narrative of institutional overreach. Khanum, a prominent PTI supporter, has been involved in party activities and public advocacy for her brother’s release.
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