MULTAN: A Pakistani man who murdered his celebrity sister was freed on Saturday after a court ruled it was not an “honor killing,” lawyers said, allowing their mother to pardon him.
Qandeel Baloch was strangled to death in 2016 by her brother Muhammad Waseem, who described her suggestive behavior on social media as “intolerable.”
In response to public outrage, Pakistan passed legislation supposedly closing a legal loophole that allowed family members to forgive those behind so-called “honor killings,” imposing a mandatory life sentence instead.
But after less than six years in prison, an appeal judge ruled that Baloch’s murder could not be defined as a crime of honor, dismissing his confession.
In line with Pakistan’s other laws on murder, the mother was allowed to grant his freedom.
“Waseem has been released from the prison in compliance with the order of honorable Lahore High Court,” his lawyer Sardar Mehboob told AFP.
“He is a free man now,” he added.
Waseem, 38, was released from jail in the eastern city of Multan after being acquitted on Monday.
Maleeka Bokhari a woman parliamentarian said the government was “undertaking a review of legal options” against the acquittal.
Earlier, Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had said the government will challenge the verdict at Pakistan’s top court.
“We as a nation should be ashamed of such (legal) system,” Hussain said on Twitter.
Baloch became famous for her flirty and defiant posts which flew in the face of the nation’s deeply conservative mores.
Waseem was arrested immediately after her death and later sentenced to life in prison for strangling her — brazenly telling the media he had no remorse.
The case became the most high-profile “honor killing” of recent years — where women are dealt lethal punishment by male relatives for purportedly bringing “shame” to the reputation of a family.
The court’s verdict published on Friday said he had been “acquitted from the case on the basis of compromise,” saying a confession from the killer “cannot be considered more than a piece of paper.”
In Baloch’s case, her parents initially insisted their son would be given no absolution, but they later changed their minds and said they wanted him to be forgiven.
A lawyer for the mother said she had given “her consent” to pardon him.
Brother freed over ‘honor killing’ of Pakistani social media star
https://arab.news/rsdt5
Brother freed over ‘honor killing’ of Pakistani social media star
- Qandeel Baloch was strangled in 2016 for bringing ‘dishonor’ on the family through her videos
- In 2019, a trial court sentenced her brother Waseem to life imprisonment after he confessed to murder
Pakistan, Egypt reaffirm support for dialogue, diplomacy to resolve regional issues
- The development comes amid tensions over Yemen following the Southern Transitional Council advance into Hadramaut, Al-Mahra
- Saudi Arabia has invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to 'discuss just solutions to the southern cause'
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Egypt have reaffirmed their support for dialogue and diplomacy as the preferred means to resolve regional issues, the Pakistani foreign office said on Sunday, amid tensions over Yemen.
The development comes days after Saudi Arabia-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said it conducted a “limited” airstrike targeting two shipments of smuggled weapons and other military hardware coming from the Emirati port of Fujairah into Mukalla in southern Yemen.
Coalition Forces spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said the weapons and combat vehicles were meant to support the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Yemen's Hadramaut and Al-Mahra "with the aim of fueling the conflict." The UAE has since announced withdrawal of its remaining troops from Yemen, rejecting any actions that could threaten the Kingdom or undermine regional stability.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty over the phone and discussed the current regional situation with him, according to a Pakistani foreign office statement.
"Both leaders reviewed current regional situation and appreciated efforts of all parties in resolving issues through dialogue and diplomacy," the statement said.
Separately, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to “discuss just solutions to the southern cause.” The STC on Saturday welcomed Saudi Arabia’s invitation to take part in the inclusive dialogue among southern Yemeni factions.
Disregarding previous agreements with the Arab Coalition, the STC group had launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman. It also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth.
Pakistan this week expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to the Kingdom’s security.
“Pakistan expresses complete solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reaffirms its commitment to security of the Kingdom,” Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters at a weekly news briefing.
“Pakistan maintains its firm support for the resolution of Yemen issue through dialogue and diplomacy and hopes that Yemen’s people and regional powers work together toward inclusive and enduring settlement of the issue, safeguarding regional stability.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark defense pact in September last year, according to which aggression against one country will be treated as an attack against both. The pact signaled a push by both governments to formalize long-standing military ties into a binding security commitment.
