ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has granted bail to Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement’s founding member, Alamzeb Mehsud on Monday.
Justice Maqbool Baqar headed the bench which heard the plea of Mehsud. The Supreme Court decided to grant bail to the accused against a surety bond of Rs500,000.
Alamzeb Mehsud, the PTM leader, was in the custody of security forces since January 21. He was arrested in Karachi on charges of rioting and inciting hatred at a protest near Sohrab Goth area.
It was during his hearing when the defense counsel asked the court whether a forensic audit had been conducted of a video that purportedly shows the PTM leader delivering an allegedly anti-state and anti-military speech.
The defense lawyer informed the Supreme Court bench that no such video had ever been found where the accused was maligning the state institutions. Moreover, the prosecution lawyer told the court that no date had yet been fixed for a trial.
The Supreme Court bench then accepted Mehsud’s plea for bail and announced the verdict in his favor.
On January 20, Mehsud addressed a rally hosted by PTM. A day later, a case was registered against 16 PTM leaders and over 200 workers for allegedly maligning the state institutions.
The police report named Mehsud and 15 others. The report also included the name of MNA Ali Wazir who was eventually arrested in May following a clash between PTM supporters and army troops in the North Waziristan region of FATA ( NOW KP).
