Azam Swati, a senator for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), requested a post-arrest bail in the case of the controversial tweet against him, and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) awarded it to him on Monday. He was granted bail by the IHC in return for a 200,000 rupee bond.
A decision on Swati’s petition had been reserved by the high court earlier in the day.
Since his arrest on November 27 for using derogatory language about senior military figures, including former army head General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Swati has been imprisoned. The elderly man insulted Bajwa with profanities.
With regard to the case brought against him on November 26, Swati had submitted a petition to the IHC requesting his release on bail. Judge Azam Khan of the trial court rejected the senator’s initial plea on December 21 because he believed he had committed the same crime twice.
The senator said in his application that he didn’t criticise any institutions online. Despite an inquiry, he continued, the prosecution has no evidence to support its case.
According to the motion, Swati is 75 years old, has heart disease, and jail time would be a punishment without a conviction because the only evidence against him is documented.
Usman Swati told the court that he had prepared a letter that his father had written and that he wanted to read it with the court’s permission at the beginning of the hearing, according to Awan, who stated that Swati’s son wanted to present his perspective to the court.
The letter was in front of the court, according to Justice Farooq, who also insisted that a larger bench would be assembled to finally resolve this issue.
The court responded by stating that a larger bench could not be constituted today, despite Swati’s attorney’s request for the court to look into the situation today.
