Ex-MQM MPA’s lawyer told to submit final arguments

An anti-terrorism court on Friday gave another two weeks to the lawyer of a former Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker to submit his final arguments in a case related to the alleged distribution of CDs of anti-state speeches.

The ATC judge gave the attorney for Sheeraz Waheed, a former member of the provincial assembly, until September 13 to file his final arguments in the case which had been on trial for around three years now. The judge had allowed some time to the lawyer on the previous hearing, however, he sought more.

Waheed was implicated in the case in August 2016 after the MQM was split into two factions; MQM-Pakistan and MQM-London, owing to a controversial speech of party founder Altaf Hussain in which he allegedly chanted slogans against the country.

According to the FIR, the MPA along with his over two dozen accomplices was allegedly distributing CDs, which contained speeches and statements to wage war or attempt or abet to wage war against the country, among the people in Ahsanabad. Police claimed that they found 32 such CDs on the MPA at the time of his arrest on Aug 25.

The MPA and other nominated persons in the case, except absconder Azhar Ali, are on bail. During the hearing, one of the accused, Ali Hasan, sought condonation from the court for his absence previously which the judge approved.

The case was registered under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan), 123-A (condemnation of the creation of the state and advocacy of abolition of its sovereignty), 124-A (sedition) and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the SITE Superhighway Industrial Area police station.