ISLAMABAD: Saad Rizvi, chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious party, is expected to be released early next week after a high court approval of a petition against his prolonged detention, the TLP leader’s lawyer said on Saturday.
Rizvi was arrested in Lahore in April for threatening the government with rallies if it did not expel the French envoy to Islamabad over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) published in France last year.
Violent demonstrations by TLP supporters erupted in major cities after his arrest. Six policemen were killed and over 800 injured, according to official figures, in protests that lasted a week.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday approved a petition filed by Rizvi’s uncle against his continued detention under Pakistan’s antiterrorism laws.
“We are hopeful for Saad Rizvi’s release on Monday as the court’s written order will reach the relevant departments on first working day of the week,” Advocate Burhan Moazzam Malik, who represents Rizvi, told Arab News.
He said the court had declared the TLP leader’s detention illegal in its detailed judgment but a written order for the verdict’s implementation is awaited.
“The government failed to provide any plausible reason in the court to detain him under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997,” Malik said. “The right to protest is enshrined in the constitution.”
Rizvi has been detained at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, which is managed by the provincial government of Punjab. Punjab Prisons Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan declined comment on the case.
TLP spokesperson Mohammad Ali said party members were expecting Rizvi to be free on Monday.
“We are a peaceful party, and we are sure our leader will be released on Monday as per the court verdict,” he told Arab News.
The party has built a wide base of support in recent years, rallying around cases of blasphemy, which are punishable by death in Pakistan.
It was banned following April’s protests.
Rizvi became the leader of TLP in November last year after the sudden death of his father, Khadim Hussein Rizvi.
Release of banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan chief expected next week — lawyer
https://arab.news/w5pt9
Release of banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan chief expected next week — lawyer
- Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday approved a petition filed by Rizvi’s uncle against his continued detention
- Saad Rizvi was arrested in Lahore in April for threatening the government with rallies if it did not expel the French envoy to Islamabad
Azam, Afridi back in Pakistan squad for Australia series before T20 World Cup
- Babar Azam cut short his Big Bash League stint to rejoin the national squad
- Pakistan face Australia in Lahore as final preparation for the T20 World Cup
ISLAMABAD: Former captains Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi have returned to Pakistan’s Twenty20 squad for the three-match home series against Australia starting on Thursday, their final bilateral fixtures before next month’s 20-over World Cup.
Azam missed the three-match series against Sri Lanka as he was playing in Australia’s domestic Big Bash League (BBL). The 31-year-old ended his BBL campaign prematurely to join the national camp.
Afridi had suffered a knee injury while playing in the BBL last month.
Pakistan will play three matches against Australia in Lahore until February 1. The 2009 champions will begin their Group A campaign in the T20 World Cup in Colombo against Netherlands on February 7.
PAKISTAN SQUAD: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan and Usman Tariq
