Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati has submitted an application to the Human Rights Cell of the Supreme Court (SC), requesting to “safeguard sanctity, honour, privacy and respect of the Senator after the leak of him and his wife’s private recorded video.”
In the petition, it is stated that the “applicant brought the honorable court’s attention towards this most inhuman and unethical incident.”
Swati narrated the incident including details of how he got to know about the video when an unknown number sent the clip to his wife. He said that the “main part of the video is genuine and it was taken when the couple was staying in Quetta.”
After watching the video, Swati said, “My wife called me after watching, remembering and confirming the details of the video. She was sobbing uncontrollably and was hardly able to utter any words.”
Moreover, the senator named Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Assistant Director Ayaz, D.G, FIA, DGC Faisal Naseer and Brig. Fahim and others “who are involved in committing the heinous crime, violation of human rights, privacy and dignity of man.”
He said that the people who were involved in his earlier custodial torture had sent this private video to his wife and son to blackmail him.
‘What happened to you is very tragic’: CJP Bandial to Azam Swati
On November 8, during the hearing of PTI chief Imran Khan’s contempt of court case in SC, when Swati appeared before the court, Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial spoke to him that “What happened to you is very tragic”.
The Chief Justice corrected Swati that he had never stayed in the rest house of the SC, to which Azam Swati replied, “Yes, you are right, I had stayed in Quetta Federal Lodge.”
“Your case is ongoing in Human Rights Cell. The court is careful in this matter, the case will be seen according to the law,” said the CJP.
Swati asked whether he can show the alleged video to anyone other than the judges. To this, the CJ directed Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to remove the alleged video of the senator To this, the PTI leader said that “The video that will be removed may not be the one that was sent to me”.
The same day Swati said that he will show the recorded private video of him and his wife to the SC and will tell the court which clips of the video are fabricated and which are real.
Talking to media outside of the apex court, Azam dismissed the FIA assessment of the video as being “fake and edited”.
“Why did we [me and my wife] say that the recorded video is of Quetta,” the senator added.
Moreover, the senator appealed to CJ for justice. He also urged the Chairman of the Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani, to follow the constitution.
Prior to this, Swati had alleged that the video was recorded when he and his wife had visited Quetta where he stayed at the Supreme Court Judicial Lodges. According to Swati, Chairman Sanjrani had arranged his stay. However, the SC issued a clarification stating that Senator Azam Swati “Never used/stayed in Supreme Court Judges Rest House at Quetta”, adding that according to the Balochistan Special Branch, Swati stayed at the Balochistan Judicial Academy (Judicial Complex Quetta), which is not under the SC’s control.
Chairman Sanjrani had also issued a statement where he condemned the video and also said that he provided Swati and his wife with the best and safest accommodation as guests in Quetta.
Pointing fingers towards FIA’s Assistant Director Ayaz Khan, the senator said General Headquarters (GHQ) should summon him [Ayaz] so that he can reveal the truth “that on whose orders he arrested me and raided my house.”
Earlier, Chairman Sanjrani formed a 14-member special committee to probe the alleged “obscene video” of Swati.
On November 5, Swati broke into tears during a press conference, alleging that he and his wife were secretly recorded in a room and he was informed about it by his daughter.
