Quetta, Nov 10 Human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) accused Pakistani authorities of not only weaponising the law to silence dissent but also reducing the judiciary to a mere rubber stamp.
According to the BYC, during the jail trial on Saturday, Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) once again failed to submit the complete challans in the case against BYC leadership, alleging that the case is being deliberately prolonged through "delaying tactics".
The rights body noted that since the very beginning, the CTD has repeatedly avoided submitting the full challans, with the Pakistani court continuing to support these delaying manoeuvres.
“Despite failing to submit the complete challan, the court is in a hurry to frame the case based on the incomplete challan. However, the case should only proceed once all challans have been properly submitted. Unfortunately, the court appears to be supporting the CTD’s irregular approach. From the outset, the CTD has produced a series of fabricated FIRs against BYC leaders, despite the judge previously remarking during hearings for physical remand that all FIRs against the BYC leadership should be presented at once," read a statement issued by the BYC.
“Following those remarks, the CTD had produced more than twenty-five fake FIRs. But in the ongoing hearings, the CTD is providing challans that include new FIRs against BYC leaders, which were not presented before. This not only proves that the state is weaponising its legal system against Baloch human rights activists but also tarnishes the credibility of the judiciary itself,” the statement added.
The rights body stated that in four similar cases, the Anti-Terrorism Court in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district has granted bail to the BYC leadership, while the court in Quetta continues to prolong these proceedings.
“This clearly indicates that, in the BYC leadership case, the judiciary seems to be paralysed from taking legal action and is indirectly acting on the side of power,” the BYC stated.
During Saturday’s proceedings, the rights body said BYC chief organiser Mahrang Baloch asked the judge whether freedom of speech exists in Pakistan, to which the judge replied, “Yes, there is, and it is a constitutional right of every citizen.” However, the BYC asserted that in practice, there is no freedom of speech, as all the cases against the BYC leaders are based on their public speeches.
“The very judge who acknowledges freedom of speech as a constitutional right is himself denying it by following the orders of intelligence agencies rather than the judicial system,” the rights body mentioned.
The BYC appealed to human rights organisations to take immediate notice of Pakistan’s misuse of the law against human rights defenders and to play their role in ensuring the release of the BYC leadership.
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