86 Pak Islamists get 55-yr jail over blasphemy protests

Islamabad, January 17

A Pakistani court has sentenced brother and nephew of a radical Islamist party chief along with 84 others to 55-year prison terms each for taking part in protests in 2018 over the acquittal of Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman in a controversial blasphemy case, according to a media report.

The anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi was hearing a case against the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) workers who held violent protests and clashed with the police over the arrest of party chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi in 2018, Dawn news reported.

Those convicted include TLP chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s brother Ameer Hussain Rizvi and nephew Mohammad Ali, the report said. The court handed 86 workers and supporters of the TLP with a prison sentence of 55 years each in a case pertaining to rioting and resisting against the police, the report said.

Additionally, the court on Thursday ordered the convicts to collectively submit Rs 12,925,000 and directed authorities to seize their moveable and immoveable assets. After the verdict was announced late on Thursday night, the convicts were escorted to Attock jail in three vehicles under tight security.

In November 2018, over 2,000 people, including the chief of a radical Islamist party, were booked under terrorism and other charges of rioting, attempting murder and hurling threats in different parts of Punjab during the three-day protests following the acquittal of Christian woman Bibi. — PTI