PTI Secretary General Asad Umar speakers to media after being released from Rajanpur Jail. — AFP/File


PTI Secretary General Asad Umar speakers to media after being released from Rajanpur Jail. — AFP/File
  • PTI leaders released on LHC’s order.
  • PTI Secretary General Asad Umar says he was proud to go to jail. 
  • Zulfi Bukhari, Fayyaz-ul-Hasan Chauhan also among released leaders.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Secretary General Asad Umar and former minister Azam Khan Swati were among the 83 party workers, who had been arrested during the “Jail Bharo Tehreek”, released on Saturday on court orders.

On Friday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had directed the authorities to release the leaders detained during PTI’s court arrest movement, over a petition filed by the party’s Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry.

Speaking to the media after his release, Umar said he was proud to go to jail and that decisions being made behind closed doors will end.

Meanwhile, Swati after being released from Raheem Yar Khan district jail, said that “political engineering should stop now”. 

PTI’s Zulfi Bukhari and Fayyaz-ul-Hasan Chauhan were also released from Sargodha jail, while former Punjab governor Umar Sarfaraz Cheema, Azam Khan Niazi, Sadaqat Abbasi, Ejaz Khan and others were also among the released PTI workers.

PTI’s Zulfi Bukhari and Fayyaz-ul-Hasan Chauhan were also released from Sargodha jail, while former Punjab governor Umar Sarfaraz Cheema, Azam Khan Niazi, Sadaqat Abbasi, Ejaz Khan and others were also among the released PTI workers.

The movement had been announced by PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the wake of the coalition government’s spree of arrests of key PTI leaders — after apparently running out of options to press the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government to stop it from “political victimisation”.

It had kicked off on February 22 to counter the “attack on constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights” and the “economic meltdown” by the incumbent government”. The party’s senior leaders, including Qureshi, Umar, along with party workers had voluntarily surrendered themselves to the Lahore police on the first day of the campaign — and later, some of the others followed suit.

However, the movement was later suspended last Wednesday, after the Supreme Court (SC) verdict in the election suo motu notice.

Khan welcomed the apex court’s verdict in the election suo motu notice and announced the suspension of the “Jail Bharo Tehreek”, saying the party would move forward with election campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab.

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