The Hindu : International : 23-year jail term for Pakistan Opposition leader

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004

International

International

23-year jail term for Pakistan Opposition leader

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

The working president of the Pakistan Muslim League, Javed Hashmi

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 12. The working president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-Nawaz), Javed Hashmi, was sentenced today to 23 years of imprisonment on charges of defaming Army and inciting it to rebel against the President, Pervez Musharraf.

The District and Sessions Judge in Rawalpindi held him guilty on the charges filed by the Government and said his sentence would run concurrently with the maximum period on one count being seven years. The PML(N) has decided to appeal against the verdict.

The judgment is a setback to the party when it is in the midst of chalking a strategy to welcome Shahbaz Sharif, senior party leader and brother of the former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Shahbaz Sharif could return subject to the law of the land.

Several sections of the civil society and the Opposition parties have protested against the manner in which cases were lodged against Mr. Hashmi. But the Government went ahead with the case suggesting that the Army would not take kindly to any campaign targeting it.

Mr. Hashmi shot to prominence for his bold comments on the military rule and was arrested for distributing a letter at a press conference in which it was alleged that the military regime had compromised on vital national interests. He had been one of the most vocal critics of Gen. Musharraf's Government since the military leader ousted Mr. Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. Mr. Hashmi was booked on October 29, 2003. The trial, unlike that of the political figures in the past, was held in jail where journalists were not allowed. The Government argued that the trial was held inside a prison for security reasons.

Mr. Hashmi had sought an open trial citing the cases of the late Z.A. Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif. When the judge allowed the correspondent of a foreign media establishment, the Government got it stayed on the grounds that it would set a precedent for other journalists to seek permission to cover the proceedings.

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