Pakistan's top opposition leader, Javed Hashmi, who was arrested on Wednesday for inciting the army to rebel, will be tried for treason, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said even as the opposition disrupted parliamentary proceedings in protest.
Also see: Top Pakistani opposition leader arrested
Charging that Hashmi, who was recently elected president of the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, has committed a 'heinous crime', Hayat asked: "Is he the member of the parliament of this country or of Indian Parliament?"
Hayat, who defected last year from former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party to join Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's government, criticised the opposition for demanding Hashmi's release.
The ARD leader was arrested for releasing to the press an unsigned letter purportedly written by army officials criticising the armed forces' continued role in politics.
The newspaper quoted officials as saying that Hashmi was not produced before any court but police had obtained judicial orders remanding him to police custody for five days.
Opposition lawmakers disrupted a legislative session on Friday and marched up the aisles, demanding that speaker Ameer Hussain issue instructions to produce Hashmi in the House.