ISLAMABAD: A cleric of Lal Masjid on Saturday filed a petition with Islamabad High Court (IHC) against alleged police harassment.

The petitioner, Ihtashamul Haq, one of the trustees of Lal Masjid Shuhada Foundation, in the petition claimed that following the release of a video message by students of Jamia Hafsa, the capital police have started harassing him.

In the video message, students expressed their support to the militants of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The petition, filed through advocate Tariq Asad, contended that despite a clarification by Mr Haq that the foundation had nothing to do with the video message, the local police had issued his detention order.

It said the petitioner was a law abiding citizen and had also been pursuing the murder case of cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi in which former president retired General Pervez Musharraf was an accused.

The petition claimed that the government had issued detention orders of Haq as it wants to sabotage the proceedings of that case.

The petition requested the court to restrain the local police from harassing the petitioner and other members of the Shuhada Foundation.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2014