PESHAWAR: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Bannu dismissed on Friday a plea by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) seeking extension in physical remand of lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, a senior lawyer said.
The Magistrate on Duty Inamullah ordered to send Dawar on judicial remand to Peshawar Central Prison partly because of security concerns, Advocate Mureed Hayat, who was present at the court when Dawar was produced, told Arab News.
“However, a bail application will be filed on coming Monday and subsequently a date will be fixed for the next hearing,” he added.
Dawar’s brother Saud Dawar told Arab News that he was optimistic his brother would be released on bail very soon as they had expedited the legal fight.
Mohsin Dawar, who is a Member of the National Assembly (MNA), was arrested last week over allegations of leading an assault on a security check post in North Waziristan tribal district.
Last month, according to a statement by the military’s media wing, Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, the two MNAs and leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), had incited a group of people, attacking a check post in an attempt to forcibly secure the release of a “terrorists facilitator” which triggered exchange of fire leaving multiple casualties in the North Waziristan tribal district.
However, the two lawmakers have denied the charges.
Wazir, who is a lawmaker from the adjacent South Waziristan tribal district, is already in police custody over charges of leading the May 26 attack on Khar Qamar check post in Boya, a hamlet in North Waziristan region.
Hayat said that earlier a special ATC judge had remanded Dawar in police custody for eight days.
The charges against Dawar have been framed under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997 of the Pakistan Penal Code 302 (murder), 324 (attempt to murder) and others, he added.
Mohsin Dawar sent to Peshawar Central jail on judicial remand
Mohsin Dawar sent to Peshawar Central jail on judicial remand
- Dawar and another lawmaker Ali Wazir were arrested over allegations of leading an assault on a security check post
- Anti-Terrorism Court rejected plea to extend his physical remand
‘I am a knight’: Pakistan-born last newspaper hawker in Paris gets top French award
- Ali Akbar’s 50-year street career in France spans poverty, homelessness and survival
- Emmanuel Macron calls him an example of integration which ‘makes our country stronger’
PARIS: Ali Akbar has been homeless, experienced extreme poverty and had been attacked.
On Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron made Pakistan-born Akbar, believed to be the last newspaper hawker in Paris, a knight in the national order of merit in recognition of his service to France.
The French president praised Akbar’s “incredible destiny,” thanking the septuagenarian for arriving from Pakistan decades ago, selling newspapers for 50 years and carrying France in his heart.
“Dear Ali, thank you for bringing political news to our terraces at the top of your lungs, for warming the hearts of the Flore, the Deux Magots, the Lipp brasserie,” Macron said in his speech at the Elysee Palace, referring to some of the French capital’s iconic cafes.
“You are the accent of the 6th arrondissement. The voice of the French press,” Macron told Akbar, who was surrounded by his family.
Akbar, who is known for inventing sensational headlines, sells his wares round the upmarket streets of Saint-German-des-Pres where he has become a neighborhood legend.
French has “become your language,” Macron told the slim, sharply dressed man. “You have learned to play with it, making it your own.”
“You have carried, if I may say so, the world in your arms and France in your heart,” Macron added.
He praised Akbar as an example of integration which “makes our country stronger and prouder.”
“He is a magnificent example at a time when we so often hear bad news,” Macron said.
“There are also many stories like Ali’s, of women and men who fled poverty to choose a country of freedom.”
Akbar said he was “deeply moved” and already knew what he would shout on the streets of Paris in the coming days.
“That’s it, I’m a knight! I’ve made it!” he said at the Elysee.
Akbar arrived in France, hoping to escape poverty and send back money to his family in Pakistan. He worked as a sailor then a dishwasher in a restaurant in the northern city of Rouen.
Then in Paris he bumped into French humorist Georges Bernier who gave him the chance to sell his satirical newspapers Hara-Kiri and Charlie Hebdo.
Akbar said last year he could not believe Macron wanted to give him France’s top honor.
“We often crossed paths when he was a student,” he said at the time.
Akbar, who receives a pension of 1,000 euros ($1,175) a month, still works each day.
On average, he sells about 30 newspapers every day, compared to between 150 and 200 when he started.
He says he has no plans to give up “entertaining people with my jokes” any time soon.
“I’m going to continue selling newspapers,” he said.
