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Pakistan Opposition Leader Arrested for ‘Highly Obnoxious’ Tweet

Azam Swati’s post was about the country’s powerful military chief.

An opposition leader in Pakistan was arrested Thursday morning over a tweet about the country’s military chief that authorities deemed “highly obnoxious and intimidating.” Azam Swati was taken into custody in Islamabad after his house was raided without a search warrant, Swati’s lawyer says. “He was blindfolded and treated like a terrorist,” attorney Babar Awan said, adding that the country had become “fascist.” Swati’s Wednesday evening tweet about military boss General Qamar Javed Bajwa came in response to a court case in which incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz were acquitted of money laundering. “Mr Bajwa congratulations to you and few with you,” Swati tweeted. “Your plan is really working, and all criminals are getting free at cost of this country. With these thugs getting free, you have [legitimized] corruption. How you predict now the future of this country?”