Islamabad: Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the leader of the Awami Muslim League, was given bail by the Islamabad High Court on Thursday. He had to put up surety bonds of Rs50,000. The former interior minister went to the IHC to ask for bail in the case against him for saying that the former president, Asif Ali Zardari, was planning to kill the former prime minister, Imran Khan. The case was filed against him because he said this.
Rashid’s lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, said at the start of the hearing that his client wants bail after being arrested. Raja also said that the additional sessions judge denied bail in the case because there was only one allegation. The judge asked Raja what Rashid was accused of and if it had been on any news shows.
Raja told the judge that his client was charged because of something he said that was on the news. He also said that the former interior minister is in jail right now. The lawyer also said that the court said it was afraid that Rashid would say similar things again if it let him go free.
Islamabad advocate general Jahangir Jadoon, who works for the government, told the court that Rashid was a senior politician whose words should have been made in parliament. He also said that those in power today will be in the opposition tomorrow. The lawyer for the government also said that Rashid had been rude to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. But Raja made it clear that the lawyer for the government was talking about a different case.
The investigating officer told the court that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority gave them information about Rashid’s statement (PEMRA). The officer said that Rashid had told him that Imran Khan gave him this information. He did say, though, that when Rashid was questioned about the alleged plot by Asif Zardari to kill Imran Khan, they couldn’t find any proof from him.
After he agreed with Khan’s claims that Zardari was planning to kill the PTI leader, the head of the AML was charged with multiple crimes. Rashid was first taken into custody on February 2 for making accusations against Zardari. The next day, he was also charged by the Muree Police. At the Mochko Police Station in Karachi, a FIR was also filed against Rashid for calling Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto “filthy” words. In Lasbela, he was also charged with the same thing.
The court then put off making a decision about the case until later. In the end, Rashid was given bail in exchange for Rs50,000 in surety bonds.
