Several party leaders: ATC reissues non-bailable warrants

KARACHI:

An anti-terrorism court re-issued on Thursday non-bailable warrants for the arrest of 25 senior leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), including party chief Altaf Hussain, in around 10 cases for delivering and listening to a speech against the military establishment.

The judge has directed the police to arrest and produce all the 25 senior leaders in the court on January 22. In July, FIRs were lodged by private complainants alleging that MQM leaders had attended a public gathering and listened to Hussain’s outburst against the security agencies. In his speech, Hussain had allegedly accused the paramilitary forces of torturing and killing his party workers.

A case was registered at Gadap police station in which the investigation officer filed a charge-sheet in the court on Thursday, charging all of them under Section 12 (collection of evidence in the absence of accused) of the Criminal Procedure Code.



While accepting the charge sheet, the judge issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Altaf Hussain, MQM’s mayoral candidate for Karachi, Waseem Akhtar, and senior party leaders.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2016.