SHC moved against detention of BYC leader Sammi Deen under MPO

By Jamal Khurshid
March 27, 2025
Police personnel detain activists from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and civil society during a protest demanding the release of Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s prominent human rights advocates, along with missing Baloch persons, in Karachi on March 24. — AFP
Police personnel detain activists from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and civil society during a protest demanding the release of Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s prominent human rights advocates, along with missing Baloch persons, in Karachi on March 24. — AFP

A petition was filed in the Sindh High Court, challenging the detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Sammi Deen Baloch under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

Baloch was detained under the MPO for 30 days after a local court discharged her and four others in a case pertaining to violating Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The five activists were arrested and booked by Artillery Maidan police under Section 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Pakistan Penal Code for violating Section 144 after the group staged a protest.

The petitioner’s counsel Jibran Nasir submitted that the MPO is illegal and the petitioner has nothing to do with any criminal activities and cannot be detained under the MPO for merely holding protest demonstrations.

He said the impugned detention order was issued without assigning any justified reasons and requested the court to set aside the detention order.

The Sindh government had ordered the detention of five people, including Sammi Deen Baloch, for 30 days in view of the possibility they could incite the public to protest and block roads. Officials said that on the recommendation of IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon, the five BYC activists were detained in view of the law and order situation.