Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar, other MQM-P leaders indicted in hate speech cases

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday indicted MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar, Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar, and other party leaders in as many as 21 identical cases pertaining to hate speeches.

The ATC judge read out charges against Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar, Khawaja Izharul Hassan, Rauf Siddiqui, Qamar Mansoor, Rehand Hashmi and  others. All suspects pleaded innocence and opted to contest the charges.

The judge, subsequently, summoned prosecution witnesses on next hearing on November 10 to record their statements.

Sattar and other MQM-P leaders were booked in over two dozen cases relating to hate speeches of their party chief.

Lately,  a court had indicted Farooq Sattar in a case pertaining to the violation of the Loudspeaker Act.

The case was registered at the New Town police station after a party workers’ gathering in PIB Colony on June 27, 1987 under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Sections 2/3 of the Loudspeaker Act read with Section 13-D of the Arms Ordinance.

In another case, Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Haider Abbas Rizvi and other MQM leaders were indicted by a court in a 2015 case pertaining to Loudspeaker Act violation. All accused pleaded not guilty in the case.

This case was registered against nine MQM leaders in 2015 after the party held a protest rally against the arrests of its workers and the Ranges raids at party offices.