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Court acquits Baba Jan, Iftikhar Hussain in treason case
Express Tribune - April 19, 2013
"The two men were acquitted by a civil court in Gilgit in the case 64/2012 filed against them on April 28, 2012 by the government," said Wajidullah, a spokesman for the Progress Youth Front (PYF), a party that Baba Jan belongs to.
Advocate Ehsan Ali, who fought the case of Jan and others, said that earlier the case was filed in an anti-terrorism court [ATC], which however rejected it because there was nothing in the case to substantiate the charges levelled against them.
"Jan's 'crime' was that he had organised demonstrations against police firing that had killed two internally displaced persons – a father and son – in Hunza," he said, adding that the victims were among those demanding compensation for the damage caused by the Attabad Lake.
Jan, who is the chief organiser of PYF, was among the nearly 100 people arrested for allegedly ransacking a police station and torching government offices in August 2011 after a clash with the police. Jan was accused of fuelling the riots and then of treason – charges that he denied.
His detention triggered protests in several countries as human rights organisations and other activists led rallies and demonstrations, demanding his immediate release.
The Labour Party of Pakistan, which Jan joined in 2004, previously accused the authorities of torturing Jan and denying him treatment during his detention despite court orders.
Jan was granted bail by the an anti-terrorism court on June 27 last year in the Hunza riots case; however, he was remanded yet again on charges of inciting sectarian hatred and promoting anti-government sentiments among prisoners at a jail in Gilgit where he remained in detention for 13-months before getting bail last year.
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