Altaf Hussain, Farooq Sattar and others advertised as proclaimed offenders

Having declared Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain, MQM-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Farooq Sattar, senior deputy convener Amir Khan and eight other members of the party proclaimed offenders multiple times this year, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Sunday had two print advertisements published against all the accused.

The concerned ATC also declared them POs for failing to appear before the court in two other terrorism related cases. The court further ordered Dr Farooq Sattar to ensure his presence in court on November 21 at 8:00am.

The cases pertained to Altaf Hussain’s August 22 speech, delivering anti-state slogans, sedition and incitement to violence, in which a number of erstwhile MQM’s leadership including Dr Sattar and the rest were nominated.

An ATC had on a previous hearing of the case of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement founder’s “objectionable” speech, declared Altaf Hussain and 23 other party leaders including Dr Farooq Sattar, Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan and Amir Khan as absconders.

The court ordered the police to arrest the absconders and produce them in court.

Earlier, the court was presented a charge sheet on the speech by Altaf that was allegedly facilitated by Dr Farooq Sattar, Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, Amir Khan, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Salman Mujahid, Asif Hasnain, Haider Abbas Rizvi and others.

The court was also informed that Altaf and his accomplices were absconding. The court was further told that a CD had been found that clearly showed that Altaf delivering an objectionable speech in front of a gathering of women.

A charge sheet was submitted to the court that stated that Altaf and the other accused should be tried for the unethical speech.  The court issued non-bailable warrants against the accused and ordered theur arrest.

The court noted that Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar was the only accused who was under detention in this case.

The court has been hearing several cases pertaining to Altaf’s provocative speech against security institutions and military establishment but this was for the first time that case in connection with an “objectionable” speech was taken up.

On Nov 2 MQM-P leaders Abdul Rauf Siddiqui and the group of its dissidents, the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader Anis Qaimkhani were released on bail after spending over three months in prison for various charges.

The two leaders were taken into custody in July for their alleged involvement in securing medical treatment for criminals at former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain’s Ziauddin Hospital, in Karachi.