Videos of the alleged physical torture of PTI leader Shehryar Afridi have sparked concern on social media. Netizens have condemned the treatment meted out to the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir.
According to the details by PTI, Shahryar Afridi was discharged by the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court. However, a new FIR was registered against him after he was acquitted by the court. The police were already outside the court and ready to arrest him again.
It has been alleged that the police were dragging him away but the lawyers available intervened and stopped the police from arresting the PTI leader. The police allegedly tortured Shehyar Afridi and the lawyers.
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Videos from the incident are going viral on social media. In the videos, Shehryar Afridi looks visibly shaken and he also showed some of his injuries. His clothes were also torn in the scuffle.
“Shehryar Afridi was discharged by the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court for arresting him in a fake case and issued a show-cause notice to the police officers. Shehryar Afridi and his lawyers were tortured by the police on leaving the court after being discharged,” PTI leader Farrukh Habib said while narrating the incident.
“Shehryar Afridi is facing the law. He was in jail for more than 80 days. Now he has been released on bail. However, his constitutional rights are being violated. Today DC has brought the order of 3MPO of Islamabad to re-arrest Shehryar Afridi,” he further added.
شہریار آفریدی کو راولپنڈی انسداد دہشتگردی گردی کی عدالت نے جعلی مقدمہ میں گرفتار کرنے پر ڈسچارج کردیا اور پولیس افسران کو شوکاز نوٹس جاری کردیا۔ ڈسچارج ہونے کے بعد عدالت سے روانگی پر پولیس نے شہریار آفریدی اور انکے ساتھ وکلا کو تشدد کا نشانہ بنایا
شہریار آفریدی قانون کا سامنا… pic.twitter.com/ZhZDJN75oR— Farrukh Habib (@FarrukhHabibISF) August 4, 2023
The videos of Shehryar Afridi are making the rounds on social media as the civic society, including members of the media fraternity, are condemning the way he was being treated.
“It is shameful to torture political prisoner Shehryar Afridi in jail,” journalist Anwar Lodhi said.
سیاسی قیدی شہریار آفریدی کو جیل میں رکھ کر اسطرح تشدد کرنا شرمناک ہے pic.twitter.com/Bh1umxB8C4
— Anwar Lodhi (@AnwarLodhi) August 4, 2023
It is important to mention here that PTI leader Shehryar Afridi was arrested by capital police in connection to the May 9 violence. Police said that the former federal minister was taken into custody from Islamabad’s Sector F-8 under Section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order (3MPO).
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Shehryar Afridi’s apprehension comes amid the ongoing crackdown on the party’s leadership, activists, and supporters. He has been re-arrested multiple times shortly after his release.