ISLAMABAD: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday granted post-arrest bail to former parliamentarian Ali Wazir and human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari in a sedition case registered against them.

The ATC judge, Abul Hasnaat Zulqarnain, while hearing the case, approved Wazir’s and Mazari’s post-arrest bail application in the sedition case against surety bonds of Rs 30,000 each.

During the hearing, prosecutor Raja Naveed and Mazari and Wazir’s counsel Zainab Janjua appeared before the court.

However, the police arrested Mazari from outside Adiyala jail again in another case registered against her under terrorism charges at BharaKahu police station.

During the hearing, a script of Mazari’s speech at the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) rally was read out before the court.

The prosecutor told the court that the USB containing the report on the speech had not yet been received, and a forensic examination of the speech needed to be conducted.

He told the court that the voice-matching and photogrammatic tests had been conducted. He sought further remand of Mazari and Wazir.

An first information report (FIR) was registered on the complaint of Inspector Mohammad Ashraf under Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) Sections 124A (sedition), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 153 (inciting to riot), 153A (promotion of enmity between groups) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation). Sections 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) and 11 (power to order forfeiture) of the Anti-Terrorism Act read with Section 21i were included as well. The case was registered after both accused addressed PTM rally at Tarnol.

The court, after hearing arguments, rejected the police plea seeking to extend the interim bail of both the accused and approved their bail applications.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023