ISLAMABAD: A special court in Islamabad issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati on Tuesday over the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) request.
Earlier, the court deferred the indictment of the PTI leader in a case registered against him over a controversial tweet.
While Swati neglected to show up in court for his indictment, the special judge for the centre of Islamabad presided over the proceedings.
The arrest warrants previously issued by the court had been carried out, according to the investigating officer (IO), who testified before the court. However, Swati was not there when he was at home.
Swati’s lawyer also admitted before the court that he was not in contact with his client while simultaneously informing the court that he had no knowledge of the IO’s visit to Swati’s residence.
The court temporarily paused the hearing before summoning the FIA agent who had carried out the arrest warrant.
The FIA official confirmed the prosecution’s story when the hearing was resumed later and stated that nobody answered the door when the team arrived at Swati’s home.
Rizwan Abbasi, the special prosecutor, urged with the judge to issue non-bailable arrest warrants for the PTI leader.
However, Swati’s counsel opposed the request, arguing that the law for non-bailable arrest warrants “is very different”.
