A trial court in Lahore on Saturday denied a bail request filed by retired captain Muhammad Safdar, husband of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif, in a case of alleged hate speech.
Judge Salman Asif delivered the verdict after the arguments of both sides concluded today.
Sadar's lawyer, Farhad Ali Shah, argued that the police have no authority to register such a case against his client. "Under the law, if the government wishes to arrest someone, it will send the police a written notice to register a case."
In addition, he said that if a person "speaks against the government, the police cannot arrest directly." "The law gives everyone the right to protest peacefully," he said.
The attorney for the prosecution, in turn, read the first information report (FIR) in court. He argued that Safdar, during a court appearance on bail in another case, "sat in the bar room and made comments against the government."
He informed the court that further investigation into the matter is required and requested that the court reject the Safdar bail request.
The court, which ruled in favor of the prosecution, dismissed Safdar's bail request and sent him back to prison.
Safdar was arrested the night of October 21 while returning to Lahore from Bhera. Police had registered a case against him on October 11 for speaking out against state institutions.
The day after his arrest, when he was presented to the court, a deputy district attorney told the magistrate that the suspect was accused of inciting people against the government and state institutions. He said the suspect was arrested by a directive issued by the deputy commissioner of Lahore.
Police had tried to obtain Safdar's physical prison for 14 days. The request was denied by the court and Safdar had been sent to jail for judicial detention.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1513048/safdars-request-for-bail-in-alleged-incitement-of-hate-case-dismissed-by-lahore-court