Shah Mahmood Qureshi was among top PTI leaders arrested following 9 May violence in Pakistan.
Islamabad:
Former Pakistan Foreign Minister, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was on Tuesday rearrested minutes after being released from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, Pakistan-based Geo News reported.
Party leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema was also rearrested immediately after her release.
Qureshi while speaking outside the jail before his rearrest, emphasised that he was still a part of the PTI and would remain so.
The former minister was then taken away by the 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, according to Geo News.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier on Tuesday 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, according to Geo News.
The former foreign minister was arrested by the police in cases of riots and arsons in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
the PTI leader before his arrest, 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.
The IHC on May 18, 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.
Many PTI leaders were arrested in the aftermath of the days-long violent protests, including under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)