The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday sentenced federal capital’s Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon, Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Jameel Zafar and Station House Officer (SHO) Naseer Manzoor of Kohsar Police Station for contempt of court.
The officials were sentenced for issuing orders for detaining Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance. The court sentenced Islamabad DC to six months in prison, SSP to four months in prison and SHO for two months. All three of them have also been fined for Rs100,000 each. Meanwhile, the court suspended the sentence for a month and gave time to the DC to file an appeal against the decision. On September 7, 2023, the IHC indicted DC Memon and three police officials including SSP Zafar in a contempt case pertaining to PTI leaders’ detention.
On August 16, the IHC suspended the detention orders of the PTI leaders and ordered their immediate release.
Both leaders were held by law enforcement for their alleged involvement in the May 9 riots, which were triggered after the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan earlier this year.
DC Memon and SSP Zafar pleaded not guilty to the charges and also apologised unconditionally. However, the IHC turned down the plea for unconditional pardon and later ordered the authorities to place DC Memon’s name on the no-fly list for skipping proceedings of the case. He was also issued a show-cause notice and was asked to reply for being absent from the proceedings.
Afridi was first arrested from his Islamabad residence under Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance, 1960, on May 16. Despite a release order, he was immediately rearrested under the same section on May 30.
The PTI leader was then granted bail by the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on August 3. But his freedom was short-lived as Rawalpindi police once again took him into custody following his release from Adiala jail.
In response to his arrest, the former minister’s lawyer had filed a plea in the IHC, requesting his release as well as the revocation of the MPO order.
