Pakistan Authority Arrests Imran Khan's Party Senator for Tweets Against Military Officials

Pakistani Senator and former minister for Science and Technology, Azam Khan Swati, 74, was already arrested on 13 October and released on 22 October for a tweet against Pakistan's outgoing army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. After being released, Swati alleged that he was tortured in custody.

On Sunday, Pakistan's Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) arrested Azam Khan Swati, a senator from Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, for an offensive tweet about military officials.

Swati allegedly used foul language in his tweet and demanded the removal of two military officials, including the chief of the army staff (COAS).

According to the local media report, on 19 November, someone on Twitter wrote a in which he said that he held [army] generals responsible for the country's destruction, to which Swati replied "thank you".

Further, @Wolf1Ak, on 24 November, said that "tabdeeli" (change) could only happen by clearing the filth of the "corrupt [army] generals" from the institution, to which Swati again replied "thank you".

The FIA registered a first information report (FIR) on the state's complaint through the Islamabad Cyber Crime Reporting Centre (CCRC) official, local media reported.

The FIR said such “intimidating tweets blaming and naming” were a “mischievous act of subversion to create a rift between armed forces personnel to harm the state of Pakistan,” local newspaper Dawn reported.

Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Imran Khan condemned Swati's arrest and, in a tweet, said that he is shocked and appalled "at how rapidly we are descending into not just a banana republic but a fascist state."