By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Sanam Javed, a prominent member of opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was rearrested on Sunday in Islamabad, shortly after her release in a case related to street violence in May last year, her lawyer and party said.
Javed, a member of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, was arrested by Islamabad police after being released by a district and sessions court, her lawyer Ali Ashfaq said.
The PTI activist had been jailed for months and was acquitted by the court in a case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for allegedly inciting people to violence on May 9, 2023.
“We handed her over to police without resistance,” Ashfaq said. “This should be the way of law-abiding people and this is what we did.”
Javed has faced a total of 12 cases related to the May 9 violence, including charges of vandalism and inciting violence. She has been acquitted in four cases and granted bail in the remaining eight.
The PTI party has been facing a crackdown on its members, with many leaders and workers arrested and jailed on various charges since May last year.
Khan’s arrest in a graft case on May 9, 2023, sparked widespread violence and protests across the country, with hundreds of his supporters allegedly pouring into the streets, ransacking military and other properties.
Thousands, including Javed, were arrested in the aftermath, and some were tried by military courts after the authorities promised to bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice.
The PTI party has been demanding Khan’s release and an end to the “political victimization” of its workers.
In a brief media talks before her rearrest, Javed said she was released after more than a year’s “illegal” detention. “I’m standing where I was 14 months back,” she said.
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