KARACHI: Prison autho­ri­ties have approached Sindh home department seeking permission to transfer interned MNA Ali Wazir to North Waziristan for his production in a third sedition case pending before a district court there.

Karachi central jail superintendent stated this in a letter to judges of the antiterrorism courts-X and XII, where MNA Wazir along with 10 other leaders of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) is facing trials related to sedition and speeches against state institutions.

The MNA and others have been charged with committing sedition by inciting public to wage a war against the state by delivering provocative speeches against security forces at a rally held in Sohrab Goth on December 6, 2020.

MNA Wazir is also facing trial in another case related to conspiring against the state and its institutions lodged at the Shah Latif police station in 2018.

On Friday, when the case pertaining to the Sohrab Goth rally came up before the ATC-XII judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, the interned legislator and others were produced from prison.

The investigating officer submitted a letter addressed to the provincial home department by the jail superintendent on Jan 27, requesting to sanction the permission for inter-provincial transfer of the custody of Muhammad Ali alias Ali Wazir to the Miramshah police station.

The official stated in the letter, a copy of which is available Dawn, that the custody of undertrial prisoner Ali Wazir was required by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police in connection with a case registered against him at the Miramshah police station.

The prison chief informed the court that the undertrial lawmaker was admitted to Karachi central prison on Dec 31, 2020 in connection with two cases. He said the ATCs of Sindh had issued a no-objection certificate regarding transfer of MNA Wazir to the Miramshah police station with a direction that his production in Karachi courts be ensured via video link as and when required.

The jail superintendent further stated that the matter may be taken up with the Sindh home department for necessary sanction of transfer of the custody of the accused for his production before the district court in respect of a case lodged against him there.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2022