Pakistan court orders release of Hafiz Saeed
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani review board on Wednesday ordered the release from house arrest of Las h kar-e- Taibafo under Hafiz Saeed, who pledged that he and his followers in the Jamaat-ud-Dawah will play a strong role for“Kashmir’ s independence”.
Pakistan’s Punjab province had sought a threemonth extension in Saeed’s detention but the request was turned down by the board just four days short of the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai attacks th a tS ae ed is accused of masterminding. Reports said the JuD chief is set to be released on Thursday. A spokesperson for the US State Department said they were awareofthecourt order.
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani review board on Wednesday ordered the release from house arrest of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, who pledged that he and his followers in the Jamaat-ud-Dawah will play a strong role for “Kashmir’s independence”.
The government of Pakistan’ s Punjab province had sought a three-month extension i nS aeed’ s detention but the request was turned down by the judicial review board just four days short of the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai attacks that Saeed is accused of masterminding.
Reports said the JuD chief is scheduled to be released on Thursday. He had been placed under house arrest in January, largely because of pressure from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force that tracks terror financing.
“The government is ordered to r el ease-JuD chief Hafi zS ae ed if he is not wanted in any other case,” said there view board comprising judges of the Lahore high court.
In a video tweeted by a handle linked to the JuD hours after the board issued its order, Saeed blamed India for his detention and vowed to work for “Kashmir’s independence”.
“The representatives and officials of the government and ministries were all saying that I should not be freed but the judges heard all their arguments and set them aside and ordered my release,” he said.
“This is the victory of Pakistan’s independence and, God willing, Kashmir too will become independent because I’ m fighting the case of Kashmir,” he added. “It is because of Kashmir that India is after me but all its efforts have been in vain.”
“I pray to God to help me and… members of JuD that we can play a strong role for Pakistan’s independence and Kashmir’s independence.”
During a hearing by there view board on Tuesday, the Punjab government said Pakistan might face sanctions from the world community if Saeed is released.
Sae ed, through his lawyer AK Dog ar, had challenged his detention and contended that requirements laid down by the Supreme Court had not been fulfilled.
Under Pakistani laws, the government can detain an individual for up to three months under different charges but an extension requires approval from a judicial review board.
“The review board of the Lahore high court asked the Punjab government to produce evidence against Hafi zS aeedf or keeping him detained but the government failed ,” Dog art old Reuters .“The court today said that there is nothing against Saeed, therefore he should be released.”
Saeedh as denied involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, during which a 10-member LeT-team killed 166 people when they targeted two hotels, a Jewish centre and a railway station.
On Ja nu ary 31 ,Saeed and four aides — Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Z afar Iqbal, Abdul R eh man A bid andQaziK ash if Hussa in—were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under the AntiTerrorism Act 1997.
Asked to comment on the order, a US state department spokesperson told HT :“The US is aware of media reports regarding Pakistan’s ordered release of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba leader Hafiz Saeed... ”The spokesperson reiterated that the Le Tis a “designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilian sin terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens”.
The spokesperson said the Le T and several of its front organisations, leaders and operatives “remain under both state department and treasury department sanctions”.