Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was arrested again soon after being released from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on Tuesday evening. Another PTI leader, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, was also arrested again after her release. The Islamabad High Court had ordered Qureshi’s release earlier in the day, on the condition that he would not incite party supporters to violence. Several top PTI leaders were arrested from Islamabad within 24 hours of the outbreak of violence by PTI supporters after Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Shireen Mazari, a former minister and close aide of Imran Khan, quit the PTI and condemned the actions of the 70-year-old leader’s supporters who attacked and torched sensitive defence installations across Pakistan on May 9. Mazari announced her resignation and retirement from active politics after she was released following her fourth arrest since May 12. She served as the minister for human rights from 2018 to 2022, under Khan’s regime.
The National Assembly of Pakistan passed a resolution vowing to try May 9 rioters, who were involved in attacks on military and state installations, under existing laws including the Army Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act. The resolution was moved by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and adopted by the House after a majority of lawmakers voted in favour of it.
