ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Wednesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi after he repeatedly failed to appear in a case linked to alleged misleading statements against state institutions.
Senior Civil Judge Abbas Shah issued the warrant, directing authorities to arrest the chief minister and produce him before the court. The judge noted Afridi’s continuous absence despite multiple summons and adjourned the case until February 10.
The case was registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), alleging that the chief minister made online statements that damaged the reputation of state institutions.
Apart from the cybercrime proceedings, Afridi is also facing a case in an anti-terrorism court over his alleged involvement in a protest held in Islamabad on November 26. He is further under scrutiny by the Election Commission of Pakistan for an alleged violation of the code of conduct during a recent National Assembly by-election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Meanwhile, a day earlier, the Peshawar High Court restrained the election commission from issuing any final order against the chief minister in a related matter concerning alleged threats to officials during the Haripur by-election. The court sought the record of the ECP decision after Afridi challenged the notice, arguing that the speech in question was delivered outside the constituency where polling was held.