Ali Wazir, the MNA and leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), has obtained post-arrest release from Karachi’s Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) in connection with a fourth sedition case brought against him.
Since December 31, 2020, Ali Wazir has been imprisoned for allegedly making incendiary comments that incited treason and hatred against the government. He and a few other party leaders were charged with the same offences in four cases that were filed under the same provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) at the police stations in Sohrab Goth, Shah Latif Town, and Boat Basin.
After hearing arguments from the defence and prosecution during the hearing on the lawmaker’s request for bail on Tuesday at the Karachi Central Jail, ATC-XII judge rendered a decision.Bail has previously been granted in the other three cases for the South Waziristan MNA.
His attorney, Abdul Qadir Khan, claimed that because he had not yet provided sureties in each of the instances, a release order for his client could not be issued on Tuesday.The current case concerns statements made by Wazir, MNA Mohsin Dawar, and others in opposition to government institutions at a gathering of the general public in a residence under the control of the Boat Basin police station in 2018.
He is facing charges under the Pakistan Penal Code’s sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of an unauthorised assembly guilty of an offence committed in furtherance of a common aim), 500 (punishment for defamation), 505 (statement inciting public annoyance), and others (PPC).
