Ex-PM Khan party activist Sanam Javed walks free after court declares her arrest ‘illegal’

In this screengrab, taken from video released by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on social media platform X, PTI party activist Sanam Javed gestures as she arrives at the National Assembly of Pakistan in Islamabad on July 18, 2024. (Photo courtesy: X/@ptiofficial)

• Javed has been in jail since last year on charges of inciting people to violence over Khan’s brief arrest in May 2023
• Islamabad High Court earlier this week ordered her release from prison, directed authorities not to arrest her again

ISLAMABAD: Sanam Javed, a leading activist of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party finally walked free on Thursday after an Islamabad court declared her arrest “illegal” and allowed her to relocate to her home in Punjab province, her lawyer confirmed. 
Khan’s arrest in a graft case on May 9, 2023, saw hundreds of his supporters allegedly pour into the streets across the country, ransacking military and other properties. Thousands, including Javed, were arrested in the aftermath and some were tried by military courts after the authorities promised to bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice.
Javed has been in detention for over a year, facing charges in a dozen cases since the riots on May 9, 2023. 
Thursday’s decision by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) followed the earlier relief Javed received on Monday when the high court ordered her release and instructed police and other law enforcement agencies not to arrest her again.
“The IHC has declared the arrest of Javed illegal and forbade to arrest her again in any case registered till today (July 18),” her lawyer Ali Ashfaq told Arab News.
Balochistan Police this week sought Javed’s arrest in a similar case registered last year after which her father, Javed Iqbal Khan, filed an application in the IHC challenging the legality of her detention.
In his judgment, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb stated that Pakistan’s attorney-general (AGP) assured the court that “Javed shall not be arrested in any case” and that the Balochistan Police shall not press its request before Islamabad’s court for Javed’s transfer to Balochistan. 
The judgment also said Javed is at liberty to travel to her home in Punjab. However, Justice Aurangzeb warned the PTI activist that she ought to exercise utmost caution and discretion in her social media statements. 
Ashfaq said Javed was arrested in 12 different cases, 11 of which were registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Of these, seven were registered in Lahore, three in Sargodha, and one in Gujranwala.
He said the court also questioned the legality of numerous police cases based on a single allegation leveled in different locations.
“On July 15, the court ordered that she should not be removed from the jurisdiction of Islamabad and should not be arrested in any other case,” he said.
Ashfaq said the court had asked the AGP to appear in person and justify that everything that had been done was according to law.
“Today, I received a message from the Attorney General about half an hour before the court session and met him in his office, where he assured me that to resolve this issue, Javed would not be arrested anywhere in Pakistan,” Ashfaq added.
He said authorities have assured him that police cases against Javed in Islamabad and Balochistan would be quashed.
“While four police cases have been discharged, in the other eight cases she is on bail and we will face trial proceedings in the concerned courts,” he said.
‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED CASES’
The PTI says it has been facing a crackdown and mass arrest of its members for standing by Khan, who has been in jail since August last year. Pakistani authorities deny the allegations.
Last week, Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were arrested by Pakistani authorities in a case involving the illegal sale of state gifts, after a court accepted their appeals against a ruling that they had violated the country’s marriage law and ordered their immediate release.
Khan and his wife were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined in February by a court that ruled their 2018 marriage broke the law. Bushra was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called “Iddat,” after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.
The ex-premier has been in jail after being convicted in four cases since last August. Two of the cases have since been suspended and he was acquitted in a third, so the Iddat case was the only one keeping him in prison.
Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says the cases against him are “politically motivated,” aimed at keeping him from returning to power. Pakistani authorities deny this.