Islamabad, Jun. 19, (dpa/GNA) – A Pakistani lawmaker who spent more than two years in jail for criticizing the military was arrested again on Monday on similar grounds, a move that was condemned rights activists.
Ali Wazir, a member of the national assembly from the region bordering Afghanistan, was arrested for allegedly protesting against the arrest of Pushtun rights activists by the military.
He was arrested in the morning and charges against him were not known until the afternoon.
A case was registered against Wazir in Kurram District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which a citizen complained about his latest speech and claimed that Wazir used derogatory words for the founder of the nation.
It is common practice that cases with flimsy charges are registered to justify the arrest of the people involved, be they politicians, rights activists or journalists.
“We have no clue about his whereabouts,” Mohsin Dawar, a lawmaker told the National Assembly.
“This is not arrest but kidnapping,” Dawar said, referring to laws under which the authorities cannot arrest a lawmaker during an ongoing session without permission of the house speaker.
Former senator and rights activist Afrasiab Khattak said that Wazir was arrested for raising his voice against the military.
“The ruthless repression of peaceful dissent in Pashtun periphery continues in total contrast to the soft attitude towards the terrorists,” Khattak said on Twitter.
In 2020, Wazir who hails from South Waziristan, a former al-Qaeda stronghold, was arrested after a speech at a public rally in which he criticized an alleged nexus between Pakistani spy agencies and Islamist militants.
He faced a slew of legal challenges including charges of sedition and was released in February after 26 months of detention.
GNA