KARACHI: A Pakistani court on Tuesday acquitted a member of national parliament and outspoken activist for Pashtun rights in a terrorism case, confirmed his lawyer, adding his client was still likely to remain in prison despite the “significant” development.
The terrorism case was registered against Ali Wazir and 12 others for addressing an “unauthorized” rally on December 7, 2020, wherein they spoke against the armed forces of the country which was seen as a “seditious” act.
Wazir was arrested from Peshawar and taken to Karachi where the authorities brought three more cases against him.
“Ali Wazir and 12 other accused have been acquitted in the [terrorism] case registered against them in December 2020,” Qadir Khan, his lawyer, told Arab News. “The court order proves the allegations levelled against my client were wrong.”
Calling it a “significant” development, Khan said Wazir was likely to stay in prison due to other cases pending against him.
A jail official, who spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to interact with the media, said the verdict was not going to change much.
“He can be released once he gets a bail or is acquitted in all the cases and there are no more [police complaints] against him,” he added.
Wazir is incarcerated in the central jail of Pakistan’s port city of Karachi for the last three years in identical cases registered against him under different sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
He has secured bail in most of these cases, though he has to stay in prison because of a lawsuit filed against him in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In March this year, Wazir was briefly released on parole to participate in no-trust vote that led to the downfall of former prime minister Imran Khan’s administration, though he was later brought back to the jail in Karachi.
Rights activists belonging to his Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) have accused the authorities of unjustifiably detaining him.
They have also criticized Sindh province’s ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for not releasing him from prison, though he has secured bail in most cases registered against him.
PPP chairman and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari invited social media wrath while attending the Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore when he advised PTM demonstrators to protest in front of those who could release Wazir.
“You should go and protest in front of those who have the power to release him,” he said.
Speaking to media later, the PPP leader said his government fully believed in human rights and freedom of expression, though the slogans raised at the event were highly inappropriate.
