Order on Ali Wazir’s bail plea in fourth case reserved

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday reserved its verdict on a bail plea of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader and MNA Ali Wazir in a fourth and last case lodged against him in Karachi over allegedly defaming state institutions.

Wazir has been behind bars since his arrest on December 31, 2020, on charges of delivering incendiary speeches, inciting the public against the state and sedition. Four identical cases were registered against him and other party leaders at the Sohrab Goth, Shah Latif Town and Boat Basin police stations. The MNA from South Waziristan has so far been granted bail in three cases. He would likely be released from jail if his bail is granted in the present case.

On Thursday, the ATC-XII judge, conducting trial in a judicial complex inside the central jail, reserved the verdict on the lawmaker’s bail application after hearing arguments from defence and prosecution sides. He will likely pronounce the judgement on August 18. The case pertains to Wazir, along with MNA Mohsin Dawar and others, allegedly delivering speeches against state institutions at a corner meeting within the jurisdiction of the Boat Basin police station in 2018.

Sohrab Goth case

The ATC reserved its verdict in a case pertaining to organising a rally in Sohrab Goth, where he, along with other PTM leaders, allegedly chanted slogans and made speeches to incite the public and defame state institutions.

The judgement reserved after the defence and prosecution sides rested their case would be announced on Aug 19, the judge said.

Wazir along with other party leaders, including Basirullah, Sher Ayub, Muhammad Tahir alias Qazi Tahir, Ahsanullah, Muhammad Sarwar, Noorullah Tareen, Javed Raheem and Muhammad Sher Khan, had been charged with committing sedition by inciting the public to wage war against the state by delivering provocative speeches against security forces, at a rally held in Sohrab Goth.

According to the prosecution, 11 PTM leaders delivered speeches intended to conspire, promote and instigate racial and ethnic violence during a rally in an open ground opposite Al-Asif Square. The four cases have been registered against him under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offense committed in prosecution of common object), 500 (punishment for defamation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief), and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with the Section 7 (Punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.