Thousands of individuals have signed an online petition demanding justice for PTI leader Senator Azam Swati.
According to the details, the Change.org petition was started by a citizen named Ameena Karim and was shared by PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan as he called for raising voice for Senator Azam Swati who was arrested for the second time for allegedly tweeting against senior military officials.
The petition, titled “Justice for Pakistani senator Azam Swati” needs 150,000 signatures to become one of the top signed petitions at Change.org. The petition for Azam Swati has already reached over 113,000 signatures.
Over 113000 individuals & counting signed a petition for justice for Azam Swati.
Azam Swati's daughter's statements on twitter show the fear of the family. Will the skies fall if a sitting Senator's serious accusations of torture are given a fair hearing. https://t.co/BD7LdHuH7B— Taimur Khan Jhagra (@Jhagra) December 2, 2022
Earlier this week, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had arrested Azam Swati — the second time in less than two months — over a “highly obnoxious campaign of intimidating tweets […] against state institutions”.
Separate FIRs were registered against the PTI leader in Balochistan and Sindh as well for using “derogatory language” and “provoking the people against the army”.
Following the arrest, the Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority (Pemra) prohibited media coverage of Swati on all satellite TV channels.
Read more: PTI women protest in front of SC against Azam Swati’s arrest
A district and sessions court of Islamabad on Thursday sent Senator Azam Swati to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in the case of the controversial tweet.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders reacted strongly against the arrest of Senator Azam Swati.
Taking to Twitter, Imran Khan wrote: “I am shocked & appalled at how rapidly we are descending into not just a banana republic but a fascist state. How can anyone not understand the pain & suffering Senator Swati underwent with custodial torture & blackmailing video of him & his conservative wife sent to his family?”
Read more: PTI’s Azam Swati warns FIA to name those behind custodial torture
“His justifiable anger and frustration at the injustice meted out to him especially the doors of the Supreme Court remaining closed to him despite over a fortnight of appeals by Senators in support of him. So he tweets and is arrested again. Everyone must raise their voice against state fascism,” Imran Khan added.
His justifiable anger & frustration at the injustice meted out to him especially the doors of SC remaining closed to him despite over a fortnight of appeals by Senators in support of him. So he tweets & is arrested again. Everyone must raise their voice against this state fascism
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 27, 2022