File photo of Malik Ishaq. PHOTO: REUTERS/ FILE
Ishaq, who was named a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the US State Department earlier this year, heads Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that has carried out a number of attacks is against Shias inside Pakistan in recent years.
Despite being officially banned since 2001, the group operates relatively openly, particularly in the province of Punjab.
"My client Malik Ishaq was acquitted in three different cases by Rana Masood, judge of anti terrorism court 2 Rawalpindi," Ishaq's lawyer Rao Abdur Raheem told AFP.
He said the cases had been brought by the state in different parts of the country.
"My client was arrested for inciting violence and making hate speeches in Jehlum, Chakwal and Attock. The judge released him because of lack of evidence," he said, referring to towns in Punjab.
Raheem said that his client was in prison during the time the cases were registered against him in different police stations.
Ishaq was arrested in February 2013 after a deadly attack on the Hazara minority in Quetta that killed around 90 people. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had claimed responsibility for the attack.
He was placed under house arrest and later shifted to Bahawalpur prison, where he has been serving time under a Maintenance of Public Order ordinance.
But he was also intermittently freed in order to act as mediator between the government and Punjab-based militants.
Ishaq has been accused of masterminding the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, which wounded seven players and an assistant coach and killed eight Pakistanis.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi emerged as a spin-off from the Sipah-e-Sahaba, a fellow anti-Shia group in the late 1990s and is believed to have close ties to the Taliban as well as al Qaeda.
COMMENTS (25)
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Only nationalist, secular and elected leaders are put in jail not the fanatic goons charged with terrorism. In Pakistan murders, terrorism, and high treason are not crimes and never punished.
Malik Ishaq is not a big issue. People committing Blasphemy is the biggest issue for Judiciary.
Dear Pakistanis, why the anguish on his release? Doesn't the logic u apply for hafiz saeed also apply here? Aren't the courts independent?. You need to provide the right kinda evidence etc etc. what u sow is what you shall reap. Sometimes in trying to burn down the neighbours house you end up burning your own house.
Atleast the court is being fair. The same justice system has even declared Hafiz Saeed as innocent.
If one needs succeed as a criminal and murderer,one should become a maulana. One has all the protection one needs.
This is why we need extra judicial measures. This guy will continue ti spew hate and kill at whim. This just enables him and his demonic followers
Express TV can now call Malik Ishak SAHIB along with Hafiz Sayeed SAHIB on the talk show at 10 PM PST to give their valuable inputs for establishing peace in Pakistan and liberating Kashmir from India.
Punishing him in Islamic Pakistan means chopping off one´s own nose.
The penal code in Pakistan so incapacitated regarding sectarian issues that outlaws like Mr. Ishaq and may others like him have no trepidation of law, and they can manoeuvre their acts easily, defying codes laid down to prevent hate speech and sectarian violence. There is dire need to introduce legislative reforms regarding these issues.
A curse for Pakistan and Islam . Judiciary is portraying its all time impotency hand in hand with the government . Human values are going down the drain with this mindset prevailig. No matter what religion or sect one belongs the prerequisite is being human enough to practice your faith .(Dissappintment)
no surprise.a man who confessed so many killing is a free man to continue his scared duty...judiciary at a lowest ebb..but they will punish painters for making banners against judiciary
@Salman Qureshi: Unbelievable!
Why? It would have been a surprise if the court may have booked him for the hate speeches. Our laws and no witness protection programs, make the terrorists and criminals live happily ever after in Pakistan.
and with such judiciary in place we are expecting prosecution of 26/11 culprits.
He should have been tried in a military court.No civilian court or even perhaps military court can dare to give a verdict against him.
You have a family - with parents, spouse and children and living in as much peace as you could, given the situation. Suppose you are a witness to a crime. You know and have seen that the criminal has a history of killing mercilessly, with scant regard to police or law. You see this criminal on TV and always has a following of people that wield AK-47's in public.Tell me if you would identify this criminal in court, in full knowledge that court itself is helpless to support you in anyway?
Is it an achievement to celebrate when the court doesn't find evidence? Can't you see that there is no environment for witnesses to come forward and and lay down the evidence of crime committed?
When a criminal spews venom against a community, openly calls for violence against them, and subsequently, there is a violence committed, can't pakistanis connect the dots? Guys, at least circumstantial evidence?
His arrest was a DRAMA
@Salman Qureshi:
Can't blame the judge. He was obviously threatened or feeling threatened. In such cases, the judges and the prosecutor should work from a remote location with their identity obscured to prevent retaliatory attacks.
Itna masoom sa banda hai. Kyon bila waja isko court main ghaseet'tnay hain. iss jaisay masoom banday ka waisay bhi kuch bigaar to saktay nahi fazool main time waste kertay hain.
What a farce our country's justice system is. A person recorded on tape giving hate speeches, an open anti state actor is on the loose because our justice system does not have the spine to deal with them. Just goes to show how well set and deep rooted religious bigotism is in this country.
This is the fate of this country. This man publicly accepted that he was a murderer and will continue if released. Judiciary will not let Pakistan live.
fellow indians honestly... with this dies the hope that 26/11 mumbai attack planners will ever be brought to justice....... i seriously see no point of this sharif coming here........nothing will happen.... gotta beef up security and intelligence....
Unbelievable!