LHC Orders the Release of PTI Leader Yasmin Rashid

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered the immediate release of Yasmin Rashid, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader.

The court suspended her arrest, which occurred one day earlier during a petition hearing requesting her release.

The LHC stated that if Rashid is not wanted in any criminal case, she should be released. The petition claimed that Rashid was taken into custody illegally as she was not named in the first information report filed at the Sarwar Road police station.

The PTI party tweeted their displeasure at the arrest of Yasmeen Rashid and called her the “Iron Lady,” stating that such arrests would not stop the movement. Along with Rashid, law enforcement agencies also detained PTI leader Shireen Mazari.

The arrests followed the detainment of Imran Khan by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) earlier in the week.

Authorities also arrested several other PTI leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Falaknaz Chitrali, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, Maleeka Bokhari, Ijaz Chaudhry, and Ali Mohammad Khan.

The police have warned that further arrests are likely. Since the protests started across Pakistan, nearly 2,000 people have been arrested, and at least eight have been killed.

Protesters have blocked highways and major entry and exit routes to all major cities, attacking and burning state buildings, police, and public vehicles, and rampaging through army installations.

However, on Thursday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan deemed Imran Khan’s arrest illegal and ordered his immediate release. On Friday, the Islamabad High Court granted bail to PTI chairman Imran Khan and restrained authorities from arresting him in any case till May 17.