No relief for Qureshi as PTI leader arrested again immediately after release

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was released from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail Tuesday, was rearrested immediately afterwards. 

Party leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema was also arrested again after her release. 

Speaking outside the jail before his rearrest, Qureshi emphasised that he was still a part of the PTI and would remain so.

The former minister was then taken away by police to an unknown location.

His statement about remaining in the party came hours after the party's senior vice president Shireen Mazari announced that she was quitting the PTI and leaving politics. 

Earlier today, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered Qureshi's release after he submitted an undertaking affirming that he would abstain from creating agitation and inciting workers.

Qureshi was among the top PTI leaders arrested from Islamabad within 24 hours of the outbreak of violent protests by PTI workers following former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The former foreign minister was arrested by the police in cases of riots and arsons in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said back then.

However, before his arrest, the PTI leader encouraged party workers to continue their struggle for "true freedom" in the country.

"As a foreign minister of Pakistan, I defended Pakistan's interests at every forum. I have been in practical politics for 40 years," he said.

Qureshi added that he had no regrets and has not made any provocative statements that could lead to lawsuits. He was confident that the PTI's movement would reach its destination.

On May 18, the IHC quashed orders for Qureshi’s arrest and declared that he be released. However, the court had said that the PTI leader's release would be contingent on his submission of a written undertaking that he would not partake in violent protests and refrain from inciting any kind of violence in the future.

Scores of PTI leaders were arrested in the aftermath of the days-long violent protests, including under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). During the protests, enraged PTI workers had destroyed public and private property in several cities and attacked military installations including the Lahore Corps Commanders House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) entrance.

Subsequently, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir announced that the legal process to try all those involved in the attacks on military installations under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secret Act had begun.