PHC bails out five TLP members

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday ordered the release of Tahreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) members on bail.

A single bench of Justice Ijaz Anwar Khan issued the release order of five TLP members.

They had been detained under Section 3 of MPO or Maintenance of Public Order after the protest by the TLP workers in Kohat and Mardan against the acquittal of a Christian woman Asia Bibi of the blasphemy charges. Public property was damaged during the protest.

The court ordered the release of Mamoor Khattak, Khalid Moeen, Abid Hussain, Engr Asfandyar and Sar Buland Khan.

They were detained under 3 MPO on the orders of deputy commissioners of Kohat and Mardan. They were being kept at the Central Prison Dera Ismail Khan and Central Prison Mardan.

During the hearing, the petitioners’ lawyers, Shabir Hussain Gigyani, Amin Khattak and Gul Hussain submitted that their clients were detained under the MPO on the charges of being members of the TLP and participating in protests against the judiciary and army.

However, they submitted that no evidence was brought by the respondents against the petitioners on the basis of which they could claim the arrests. The station house officers and representatives of the district administration Kohat and Mardan, however, produced copies of the accounts of the detainees of social media in which they passed negative remarks after the acquittal of Asia Bibi in a blasphemy case.

The deputy commissioners extended detention of TLP members and leadership under Section 3 of the MPO after their one-month detention.