Senior PTI leader and ex-Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari returns home safely after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered a judicial inquiry into her arrest, deeming it ‘illegal’.
The Minister posted on her Twitter account about her safe return home, after she was taken into police custody in Islamabad by the anti-corruption department.
I want to thank everyone who supported me when I was picked up illegally, dragged out of the car with no warrant. My cell was snatched! My driver was blindfolded & beaten up. I was being driven on the Motorway to some place in Punjab! Thankfully I am back home safe with my family
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) May 21, 2022
The PTI leader had been arrested on Saturday afternoon. In a video clip of the police arrest recorded by Geo News, the ex Minister could be seen getting into a heated debate with the police upon news of her arrest. Mazari, tried to resist arrest for quite some time before finally giving in. “No, I don’t want to talk to you. No, you’re not going to take my phone,” Mazari said to female police officials.
Following the arrest, Mazari’s daughter, Imaan Zainab Mazari tweeted about the incident writing Mazari was “beaten and taken away by male police officers”, adding: “All I have been told is that Anti-Corruption Wing Lahore has taken her.” Further, she filed a petition against her mother’s arrest.
Male police officers have beaten and taken my mother away. All I have been told is that Anti Corruption Wing Lahore has taken her.
— Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir (@ImaanZHazir) May 21, 2022
A few hours after the arrest, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz had also ordered ‘immediate release’ of Shireen Mazari saying she is a respect worthy woman. “Arrest of any woman does not hold compatibility with our moral values,” he said, adding that the investigation should also be made against the anti-corruption staff for arresting Dr Mazari. PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz had also expressed her displeasure at the situation saying she is “not happy” with Mazari’s arrest.
Taking notice of all this, Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered to bring Shireen Mazari before the court at 11:30pm at night, in a land ownership and transfer case, reopening outside its usual working hours for the case.
