ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court on Wednesday rejected Senator Azam Swati’s bail plea in the controversial tweets case against him, saying the “same crime” has been committed twice.
The decision was issued by Special Judge Central Azam Khan of Islamabad. He reserved the decision earlier today.
During the hearing, Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi explained to the court the process of verifying the Twitter account. He added that Swati’s Twitter account has a “blue tick” and celebrities follow her.
“Famous journalists and political figures follow Azam Swati,” the lawyer said. He added that the senator never removed himself from the account.
Abbasi said that there is no doubt that the Twitter account does not belong to Azam Swati.
Concluding their arguments, the prosecutor and the public prosecutor requested the court not to grant bail to the senator in the case.
On the other hand, PTI Senator’s lawyer Sohail Khan took the stand that a cyber crime case cannot be registered on screenshots.
After hearing the arguments, the judge reserved the decision and said that it will be delivered in 20 minutes.
Controversial tweets cases
Several cases have been registered against Swati across the country for posting controversial tweets against senior army officers.
Initially, the senator was arrested by the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) on October 14 after posting highly hateful and threatening messages against the army chief, judiciary and other state institutions on his official Twitter account.
The senator got bail in this case. But on November 27, the FIA once again arrested Swati for using abusive language against senior army officers, including the former army chief.
Several cases were filed against the senator across the country related to these tweets.
On December 2, Balochistan Police arrested Swati in Quetta in connection with a similar case.
At the time of his arrest, he was already on judicial remand in Adiala Jail and was transferred to Quetta under transit remand obtained by Balochistan Police.
Later, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered to drop all cases filed against the senator in the case.
Once, the BHC ordered that the Sindh Police take the senator into custody over the case.
After that, the senator approached the Sindh High Court. The court also directed to drop all cases against the senator in the province after the police said the cases were labeled “C class”.
Following the orders, the Islamabad police took the senator into custody and brought him to the federal capital.
