100 PTI, PAT workers sent to jail
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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday was adamant on its refusal to talk with the government, as a court in Islamabad sent about a hundred workers to Adiala Jail on a 14-day judicial remand for allegedly attacking state institutions, including the PTV building and violating Section 144.
Speaking to reporters at the premises of the court, Inspector General (IG) Islamabad Police Tahir Alam asked the protesters present there to disperse immediately.
“Police have been demonstrating patience and restraint despite provocation from PTI protestors,” he said.
Under Section 144 gathering of more than five persons is prohibited, he added.
He said: “PTI workers and leaders Andaleeb Abbasi and Arif Alvi had stopped prison vans near district courts at F-8 and have demanded release of the prisoners.”
The Inspector General said it was the police's duty to disperse a crowd that violated Section 144. Moreover, the police will not use force against protesters, he added.
Out of hundred, 91 workers belong to PTI while the remaining are Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers who had violated Section 144 and were consequently arrested, a police official told APP.
Meanwhile, a heavy contingent of security forces arrived at F-8 Kutchehri to control the situation.
Police also held Azam Swati who was present with the protesters and was trying to provoke PTI workers.
A number of PTI workers surrounded the police van and deflated its tires, carrying arrested workers to prevent it from leaving the premises.
Dialogue with govt off the table: Jahangir Tareen
Addressing, a press conference, PTI General Secretary Jahangir Khan Tareen said Saturday that his party has called off dialogue with the government due to the detention of PTI workers in Punjab.
He said the whole province of Punjab had become a hub of terrorism, adding that the judiciary should also take notice of the arrests of PTI workers. He also said that the party will not tolerate the arrests of its workers.
Tareen said the government was behind all of this as it wanted to conceal rigging done in the May 2013 election, adding that talks had been suspended with the federal government.
Reiterating the PTI's stance, he said they would not budge even the slightest from PM Nawaz's resignation.
PTI appeals for release of detained workers
PTI leader Arif Alvi on Saturday warned the government that his party would forcibly release workers detained by police authorities if they were not released.
Alvi was speaking outside the F-8 court in the capital and initially gave authorities a deadline of three hours which was later changed to 30 minutes.
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“The party is giving a warning of half an hour to respective judges to come at the kachehri where the detained party workers are locked and take up the matter immediately, otherwise the protesters will break the locks of the prison vans,” the lawmaker said.
PTI workers gathered outside the court to protest the detention of party activists by police. The party's provincial president Azam Swati and PTI Punjab Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas were among those arrested by the police.
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“Our workers are not even being provided water and are being kept in dreadful conditions,” said Alvi.
He termed the detention of workers illegal and said it will not pressurise his party to change its stance.
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Prior to being arrested, PTI leader Azam Swati told reporters that IG Islamabad was trying to safeguard an unlawful government.
He said no one gave them a fair hearing despite the fact that they had submitted surety bonds in the court.
Earlier: DJ Butt, PTI workers presented in court
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Asif Butt aka DJ Butt and hundreds of PTI workers who had been detained a day earlier from various spots in the capital were presented in the court of Assistant Commissioner Secretariat Waqas Rasheed on Saturday.
Asif Butt talking to DawnNews said he took ample rest during his stay in the lock-up as he was exhausted from the month-long protest.
“I was there to do my duty and I will resume my duty at the dharna,” said the smiling DJ.
Butt, who has been with the PTI since 2011, was arrested for violation of Section 144 in connection with a case registered at the Secretariat police station under section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), titled ‘Disobedience to order, duly promulgated by public servant’. Police had said they informed DJ Butt in writing that he was in violation of a capital administration ban on the use of loudspeakers. The inspector general had said DJ Butt was also asked to keep the volume down so the sound does not carry to nearby sectors.
He was arrested from a guest house on Embassy Road, and later kept at different police stations.In the morning he was shifted to the Secretariat police station where a case was registered against him under Section 144.
From Khyber to Karachi, DJ Asif Butt is the man of the musical hour at any PTI rally, and the gana bajana and soaring entertainment quotient at the ongoing sit-in at D-chowk is no exception.
Sources within the police had said that the government expected the arrest of the disc jockey to come as a major blow to the party’s public appeal ahead of Saturday’s celebrations to mark the one-month anniversary of the protests on Constitution Avenue.
Section 188, Section 144
Section 188 of Pakistan Penal Code-PPC | Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant:Whoever, knowing that, by an order promulgated by a public servant lawfully empowered to promulgate such order, he is directed to abstain from a certain act, or to take certain order with certain property in his possession or under his management, disobeys such direction, shall, if such disobedience causes or tends to cause obstruction, annoyance or injury or risk of obstruction, annoyance or injury, to any persons lawfully employed, be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to 71[six hundred rupees] 71, or with both; and if such disobedience causes or tends to cause danger to human' life, health or safety, or causes or tends to cause a riot or affray, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to 72[three thousand rupees] 72, or with both.
Section 144 | Whoever, being armed with any deadly weapon, or with anything which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, is a member of an unlawful assembly/shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Also read: The DJ at D-chowk: At PTI rallies, Butt finds big business