Detained PTI leader Hammad Azhar's mother, wife approach Lahore ATC over 'denial' of meetings

LAHORE: PTI leader Hammad Azhar’s mother and wife on Thursday approached an anti-terrorism court (ATC) against the police for allegedly denying his family and lawyer access to him.

Ishrat Azhar, the mother, and Marriam Hammad, the wife, filed a joint petition through their counsel, Abuzar Salman Niazi.

The petition stated that police were not allowing Hammad’s family members and lawyer to meet him even though a suspect in custody had the legal right to access his counsel and family.

It contended that the police’s action was contrary to law.

The petition requested the court to direct the authorities to allow Hammad to meet his lawyer and family members.

On Monday, an ATC sent Hammad on 21-day physical remand in a case pertaining to the attack on Jinnah House during the May 9 riots. He was reportedly arrested in Multan and handed over to Lahore police last week.

Hammad had been declared a proclaimed offender by trial courts in multiple cases of May 9 attacks. In January, for one of the cases, the prosecution told the court that he had been granted multiple opportunities to appear in court but failed to do so. It was further stated that he went into hiding to avoid arrest.

In March, a Rawalpindi ATC sentenced Hammad, along with 46 other PTI leaders, to 10 years in prison in the May 9 GHQ attack case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs500,000 each and ordered the confiscation of their property in favour of the state.