Court Orders Passports of Sohail Afridi, 24 PTI Lawmakers to Be Blocked
The order was issued by Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain following a request from police to prevent the accused from leaving the country.
An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Monday ordered the passports of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and 24 other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers to be blocked in connection with a case registered at Kohsar Police Station.
The order was issued by Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain following a request from police to prevent the accused from leaving the country. According to the court order, the accused are named in the case and the investigating officer expressed concern that they could leave Pakistan to evade legal proceedings. The court said the accused face serious allegations, including attacks on state institutions and promoting terrorism, and noted that they had failed to appear before it. The court also observed that some of the accused who had secured interim bail had not joined the investigation.
It subsequently approved the investigating officer’s request and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to block the accused persons’ passports until further orders. Those named in the order include Asad Qaiser, Shehram Khan Tarakai, Shah Ahmad, Sher Ali Arbab, Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, Dr Amjad Ali, Junaid Akbar, Shahid Khattak, Zubair Wazir, Umar Ayub, Arshad Umarzai, Zar Alam, Mian Umar and Akhtar Khan.
The list also includes Humayun Khan, Riaz Khan, Abdul Kabir Khan, Tufail Anjum, Asif Mehsud, Ajab Gul, Muhammad Usman, Babar Saleem Swati, Irfan Saleem, Advocate Ali Zaman and Malik Shahab. The court said the passport-blocking measure would remain in place until further orders.
