Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has stated that the government will first direct Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers – who voluntarily presented themselves for arrests – to far-off jails before sending them to prisons in Lahore or Rawalpindi.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, the minister said that between 100 to 150 people have thus far courted arrests as part of the PTI’s ‘Jail Bharo’ movement – a drive that seeks to mark a protest against the government’s policies and to put pressure on the ruling coalition to announce elections.
It may be noted that several petitions have been filed at the Lahore High Court (LHC), expressing fears that the arrested PTI leaders and workers may be falsely accused of involvement in unlawful activities to cause them “maximum harm”, adding that they have been transported to “some unknown place” to “torture” them.