ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has granted bail to Ali Wazir, former Member of National Assembly and prominent Pashtun rights activist.
Wazir secured his release against a Rs25,000 surety bond. The decision was made by a bench comprising Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan.
Ali Wazir was initially arrested following a road incident in Islamabad, where his car was hit by a motorcyclist near Zero Point. Wazir, demonstrating concern, personally transported the injured motorcyclist to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital. Shortly after, a significant police force, including plainclothes officers, detained him at the hospital.
The circumstances of Wazir’s arrest have been contentious. His lawyer claims that the road accident served merely as a pretext for his detention, given his active involvement in the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which has been vocal about military excesses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Following the accident, the police charged him with multiple offenses, including the possession of unlicensed weapons and drugs, obstruction of police duty, and under the harsher Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
This bail comes after a previous denial from the Anti-Terrorism Court, marking a significant development in Wazir’s ongoing legal battles, which include charges deemed by PTM leaders as “extremely false” and “fabricated.”
