The Islamabad High Court in Pakistan on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Asad Umar. Along with this, he has also left the post of PTI General Secretary. The High Court quashed the order of his detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance and held that his arrest was illegal. Asad Umar is a close associate of Imran Khan.
Was taken into custody after nationwide demonstrations
The court, presided over by Justice Miangul Aurangzeb, ruled during the hearing that his arrest was in violation of the MPO (Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance). On 10 May, a day after nationwide protests over the arrest of PTI chairman Imran Khan, Omar was taken into custody from the IHC grounds under the MPO.
Ordered to delete the provocative tweet
Justice Aurangzeb said that the cases of Asad Umar are before me. If I issue orders today, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. The court ordered Omar to delete his inflammatory tweets and submit an affidavit. A report said that earlier on May 12, Asad Umar had challenged his arrest at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises.
Umar said in his petition that his fundamental human rights were violated during his arrest. In the judgment, the court also directed PTI leader Asad to submit an affidavit not to be part of the violent protests.
Asad Umar was caught after violence broke out
Omar was detained under the MPO from the IHC premises on May 10, a day after violence broke out amid nationwide protests against the arrest of former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan. Several other top PTI leaders were also detained from Islamabad within 24 hours of the outbreak of violent protests.