Self-exiled Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain will be going to trial in the UK at the beginning of next year for hate speech charges, as reported by local media outlet GEO News.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that Hussain’s trial will start on January 31, 2022 and last for about three weeks.
The MQM founder had asked for an indefinite delay his trial , citing serious health issues and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, sources said.
The CPS confirmed that Hussain’s trial had already been postponed twice before because of the pandemic and his own health issues.
The MQM leader spent nearly a month in Hospital from mid-December last year to January 12, 2021 after being taken in an ambulance for suffering “serious” COVID-19 symptoms.
After returning home, Hussain fell ill again a week later and spent another week in the hospital. His doctors had told the court he suffered from a severe form of infection in multiple organs along with pneumonia.
Since the last three months, the MQM founder has been doing well and has made several live speeches to his followers on social media.
The case
Hussain, 67, has been charged under the Terrorism Act, 2006 on suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting offences contrary to Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act, 2007.
UK authorities launched the investigations into the matter after an FIR was lodged in Karachi naming the MQM leader as the instigator.
