LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday requested Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to ensure the protection of fundamental rights in the country, especially of PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry who was in the custody of the Islamabad Police over sedition allegations.

In a two-page handwritten letter to the CJ, the PTI chairman expressed his concerns about the well-being of the PTI senior vice president.

“This is to bring to your kind attention that the PTI SVP and member of the Supreme Court Bar Association Fawad Chaudhry was under arrest and in the custody of Islamabad Police. Two of our senior party office-bearers Senator Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill were subjected to custodial torture. I worried that Fawad Chaudhry would be subject to similar inhuman treatment in violation of Articles 9,10-A and 14 of the Constitution,” he mentioned in the letter.

The PTI chief added that as the custodian of the Constitution of Pakistan, which protects our fundamental rights, he requested the CJ to ensure the honour and dignity of Chaudhry were not violated while in police custody.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, Khan strongly condemned the “mistreatment” of Chaudhry by the police. He castigated the authorities for producing Chaudhry before the court handcuffed and head covered “like a terrorist.”

“Taking Fawad to court handcuffed and head/face covered like a terrorist shows the low and vindictive levels the imported government and the state have reached,” he added, adding that the treatment of Fawad, Swati and Gill leaves no doubt in the people’s mind that now we were a banana republic.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023