Tag: jail

  • First picture of Mir Shakilur Rehman in jail emerges

    First picture of Mir Shakilur Rehman in jail emerges

    The first picture of media mogul and philanthropist Mir Shakilur Rehman in jail emerged on Friday — a day after the National Accountability Bureau arrested him from Lahore in a case pertaining to the purchase of a 54-kanal piece of land.

    The picture showed the Jang/Geo Group owner behind bars at what appeared to be the Lahore office of the anti-graft watchdog.

    Rehman had on Thursday appeared before NAB for the second time to answer the bureau’s questions about the land in question. He was subsequently arrested after failing to satisfy officials with his answer.

    According to NAB, former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif had illegally leased the land to Rehman in 1986.

    NAB will produce Rehman in front of an accountability court today for his physical remand.

    According to the notice issued on February 28, Rehman had been called to appear before NAB on March 5 to record his statement regarding the land allotted to him in 1986 in Block H, Johar Town Phase 2 “by then Punjab chief minister (CM) Mian Nawaz Sharif in violation of the relevant laws and rules”.

    According to an official statement issued by the Jang Group, the property “was bought from a private party 34 years ago and all evidence of this was given to NAB”.

    The statement maintained that today’s appearance was for the verification of the complaint, yet Rehman was arrested. It also accused the anti-graft watchdog of harbouring a vendetta against the publication.

    “During the past 18 months, NAB has sent our reporters, producers, and editors […] over a dozen notices threatening to shut down our channels […] due to our reporting, and programmes about the anti-corrupton watchdog.”

    “NAB has also, through several means, tried to persuade us to go slow, to stop stories and to do others in its favor at the expense of the full truth.

    “We will not stop any reporter, producer or anchor from any story that is on merit, and at the same time will include NAB’s version,” the statement read, adding that the bureau has denied all the allegations and claimed they are independently pursuing all cases.

    On March 5, The News had reported that Rehman had appeared before the anti-corruption watchdog and had informed the bureau that he had purchased the land from a private owner and that he possessed evidence of the same.

    Rehman had said that he was hopeful that the watchdog and the courts would decide the case fairly.

    Speaking to the media outside, he had said that similar accusations had been levelled against him in the past as well but had been proven to be false.

  • Manzoor Pashteen released

    Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen, who had been arrested from Shaheen Town of Peshawar in January, was on Tuesday released from jail.

    According to reports, the Pashtun rights activist was arrested in a case registered against him at the City Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18 under sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 124 (sedition), and 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    Later, a sessions court in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had granted bail to the PTM chief, while also granting him bail in a similar case by a Dera Ismail Khan court.

    Pashteen’s bail applications in two other cases — also pertaining to sedition — were approved by the DI Khan court on February 8. MNA and PTM’s senior leader Mohsin Dawar had said that Pashteen would be released from jail once legal formalities were completed.

  • Conviction: Hafiz Saeed sentenced to jail for terror-financing

    Conviction: Hafiz Saeed sentenced to jail for terror-financing

    An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Wednesday convicted banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed in two terror-financing cases, sentencing him to jail for five years and six months, besides reportedly imposing a fine of Rs15,000 in each case.

    The court that convicted Saeed under sections 11-F (2) and 11-N of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), had reserved its verdict in the two cases on February 6.

    On Tuesday, the court had accepted a plea of Hafiz Saeed, chief of the banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), to club all six terror financing cases against him and his associates and announce the verdict on completion of the trial.

    The court had indicted the JuD chief and three of his associates – Hafiz Abdul Salam bin Mohammad, Mohammad Ashraf and Prof Zafar Iqbal – on terror financing charges on December 11 last year in a case filed by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). Saeed and Prof Zafar Iqbal were later indicted in a similar case on December 20. The cases were filed by CTD Lahore and Gujranwala chapters.

    The ATC on Saturday last week had deferred announcing its verdict in the terror financing cases and decided to hear arguments on February 11 on the suspects’ application to hear all cases first before reserving its judgment.

    The application, filed by the petitioners’ counsel, requested that collective verdicts be issued after the completion of trials in all the cases pending against them.

    The petition also prayed the court to quash the false First Information Report (FIR) registered against the JuD chief. According to Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Rauf Wattoo, in total six cases against the said individuals were pending before the same court, and in four of these cases, presentation of evidence was in progress.

  • Saad Rafique injured after fire breaks out in jail

    Saad Rafique injured after fire breaks out in jail

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique has sustained minor injuries after a small fire broke out in Lahore Camp Jail’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) barracks, The News reported.

    According to reports, the fire broke out due to short circuit in an electric heater outside the room of former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s aide Fawad Hassan Fawad, causing panic among prisoners.

    Due to a lack of jail staff, Rafique started banging the bars of his cell and sustained a minor head injury when his head hit against the bar. The jail doctor gave him first-aid after which he was shifted back to the barracks.

    The fire was extinguished by the jail administration after switching off the main power supply in the meantime.

    According to Jail Superintendent Asadullah Warraich, it was a “small fire” that was put off by the staff and the PML-N leader got injured “because he panicked”.

  • VIDEO: Chef Gulzar hits himself with slipper as a protest for letting Nawaz go abroad

    Pakistani chef Gulzar has recorded a video in which he is hitting himself repeatedly over the head with a slipper, reacting to the government’s decision of allowing former premier Nawaz Sharif to fly abroad for medical treatment.

    “I never comment on politics but today, I wanted to say something,” Gulzar said in the beginning of the video, adding that “I want to congratulate Nawaz Sharif on behalf of myself and millions of people as he got relief from the government.”

    Gulzar then pulls out a slipper and before hitting himself over the head with it repeatedly, saying: “I wanted to express my happiness at the government and its institutions for giving relief to Nawaz. This is how I will celebrate my happiness–by hitting myself over the head repeatedly with this slipper.”

    Watch Video:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPYcRb1f0g8

    Gulzar then states that he expects that the rest of the people who are in jails will also get instant relief like the former prime minister and people who were committing suicide owing to inflation will also get justice.

    He said, “People who are selling their children will also get relief”, before hitting himself again with a slipper.

    Further criticising government, Gulzar said that women who were selling their dignity to run their household will also get relief due to this.

  • Maryam Nawaz still not released despite bail

    Maryam Nawaz still not released despite bail

    While the Lahore High Court granted bail to Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday, her release has so far been delayed due to procedural issues.

    As per media reports, Maryam Nawaz’s lawyers were late in completing the necessary documentation. However, sources share that the delay wasn’t at Maryam’s lawyers’ end.

    Due to the delay in her release, Mian Nawaz Sharif also did not shift to Sharif Medical City Hospital despite being discharged from Services Hospital on Tuesday. Mr. Sharif is adamant that he will shift only when Maryam Nawaz is released so that she can go with him.

    Meanwhile, #ReleaseMaryamNOW trended on Twitter for several hours once news broke out that her release has been delayed due to procedural issues.

    Some TV analysts speculated whether the delay in her release was related to a fear that she may address the Azadi March.

  • Zardari seeks A-class facilities in prison

    Zardari seeks A-class facilities in prison

    Former president Asif Ali Zardari, who is currently locked up in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for his alleged involvement in the fake bank accounts case, has sought A-class facilities in prison.

    According to the details, Zardari on Friday was shifted to Adiala on a three-day judicial remand in connection with the long-running mega money laundering case.

    Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) authorities presented the ex-president before an accountability court and sought extension in his remand in light of the recent developments in the case.

    As the proceedings continued, Zardari’s counsel Sardar Latif Khosa maintained his client had already said that he be given a 90-day remand at once.

    “NAB officials ask for a four-day remand then again ask for a new remand. These repeated appearances are only causing losses to the national treasury,” the counsel said.

    Khosa also filed a plea in the court asking that Zardari be provided with A-class facilities in prison, including medical facilities and the permission to meet his family.

    The accountability court then summoned a reply from NAB regarding the request and issued orders to shift Zardari to Adiala Jail on judicial remand.

    JAIL FACILITIES:

    The classes ‘A’ or ‘B’ have prisoners who by social status, education or habit of life have been accustomed to a superior mode of living. Habitual prisoners can be included in this class by order of the government.

    The expenses of facilities to prisoners under A or B class, such as television, air-conditioner, fridge and newspapers, are usually paid by prisoners with the permission of the prisons department.

    Zardari’s petition seeking A-class facilities comes weeks after Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan announced removing the air-conditioner and television facilities provided to jailed ‘money launderers’.

  • Meat-lover Nawaz unhappy with ‘tasteless’ vegetarian meals in jail: report

    Meat-lover Nawaz unhappy with ‘tasteless’ vegetarian meals in jail: report

    Former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who is rather infamous for his high-protein diet and love for meaty festivities, is reportedly unhappy with the vegetarian food being served to him in jail.

    According to a private media outlet, the ex-premier has complained about the “tasteless” vegetarian meals to his personal doctor, who believes the environment is not fit for ailing Nawaz.

    “The jail food can further deteriorate his health,” the former PM’s doctor was quoted as saying.

    Earlier this month, the Punjab government had discontinued provision of home-cooked food for the ousted premier – currently incarcerated in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.

    Reacting to the move, Nawaz’s brother and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif had said that the ex-PM is a heart patient and needs homemade food to control his health.

    PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz has also, time and again, stressed the need for her father to be provided with home-cooked meals for the sake of his health.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, on the other hand, has vowed to ensure the “criminal” doesn’t even enjoy air-conditioning and television facilities in his jail cell.

    “Nawaz Sharif wants food from home in jail, he wants air-conditioning in jail. But in a country where half the population has no air-conditioning or TV, what kind of punishment would this be?” the premier was recently quoted as questioning.

    Action is reportedly being taken in this regard too.

  • Govt asks IG prisons to remove jailed Nawaz’s air-conditioner

    Govt asks IG prisons to remove jailed Nawaz’s air-conditioner

    The Punjab government has asked inspector general (IG) of prisons to remove the air-conditioner installed in ex-prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s cell at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.

    “The following directions of PM [Imran Khan] have been intimated for implementation and report ‘No Preferential Treatment be Given to the Criminals and Money Launders in the Prison in Punjab’,” The Express Tribune quoted a July 17 letter, written by Punjab Home Department to the IG prisons, as saying.

    The letter asks the IG to take necessary action in the matter immediately and submit a report in three days.

    PM Imran, in his address to Pakistani-American community in Washington last Sunday, had announced to withdraw air-conditioning and television facilities provided to jailed former PM Nawaz as well as ex-president Asif Ali Zardari.

    However, the letter being dated July 17 suggests that the authorities had been ordered to take away the facilities long before the premier’s announcement.

    Meanwhile, according to the ex-PM’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, doctors have advised that her father’s room temperature be maintained at a comfortable level to prevent dehydration and the possible deterioration of his renal function.

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader has also said that withdrawing the air-conditioning facility would be equivalent to putting Nawaz’s life in danger.

  • ‘Storm Adiala’: Facebook event on July 21 to ‘rescue jailed Nawaz’

    ‘Storm Adiala’: Facebook event on July 21 to ‘rescue jailed Nawaz’

    With hundreds of thousands of people signing up for the event titled ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us’, a local version of the plan, ‘Storm Adiala to Save Nawaz’, has been created on Facebook.

    Over 600,000 people have signed up to the Area 51 event that invites attendees to gather before entering the air force base obsessing alien conspiracy theorists for long.

    The Pakistani version of the event, on the other hand, calls on the participants to raid the Rawalpindi Central Jail aka Adiala Jail to save former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif.

    It is highly unlikely that the event is not a joke since the ex-PM, convicted in corruption references, is not even locked up there. He was transferred to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail after a court, last year, accepted his application to be incarcerated in Punjab’s provincial capital instead of Rawalpindi.

    The satirical event, however, has received over 943 signatures, including that of social media influencer and comedian Junaid Akram. Over 1,500 have also marked themselves as interested in attending the event.

    It is scheduled for July 21 (Sunday) at 6 pm, whereas the person behind the event is not yet known.