The Hindu : Pak. court rejects Hashmi's bail plea

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 18, 2003

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International

Pak. court rejects Hashmi's bail plea

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Nov. 17. The Pakistan Lahore High Court bench has rejected a petition seeking the release on bail of the President of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), Javed Hashmi. He has been under detention for over two weeks now on charges of attempting to defame the army.

The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court today rejected the petition filed by Mr. Hashmi's daughter, Memona Hashmi, and asked her to file the same petition in the lower court, which remanded his father to judicial custody.

Opposition parties in Pakistan and several non-governmental organisations have been critical of the Government for the arrest of Mr. Hashmi and demanded his immediate release. However, the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, justified the action and said that some persons in the Opposition were exceeding the limit and targeting national institutions.

Opposing the bail plea, the prosecution lawyer, Shiber Raza Rizvi, told the court that Mr. Hashmi had distributed a fake letter to create a rift within the army and that he does not deserve any relief. Ms. Memona said she would wait to get a written copy of the court ruling and her lawyers will challenge the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court. Mr. Hashmi, who is also the Acting President of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), was accused of releasing a fake letter, purportedly written by army personnel, to the media on October 29 calling for an inquiry into Kargil war and criticised the army top brass for continuing to dabble in politics.

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