Pakistani court awards 35-year jail term to top leader of banned TLP

Lahore, Dec 16 (PTI) A top leader of the banned radical outfit Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has been sentenced to 35 years in jail by an anti-terrorist court for inciting people to "behead" Pakistan's then chief justice.  The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday sentenced radical Islamist party TLP’s deputy chief, Zaheerul Hassan Shah, for inciting the public against the then chief justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faiz Isa, in July 2024, a court official said.  ATC Lahore Judge Arshad Javed announced the verdict in jail proceedings. The convict was then handed over to the superintendent of Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, he added.  During the trial, the prosecution presented 15 witnesses in support of the charges against the radical cleric.  Shah, in the presence of TLP chief Saad Rizvi, had offered a bounty to kill Pakistan's Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa in July 2024.

"I will give PKR 10 million (about USD 36,000) to anyone who would behead Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa," Shah had said in a gathering of TLP workers in Lahore.

Qazi Faiz Isa had been criticised by extremists after he granted bail to an Ahmadi suspect accused of blasphemy. The court's ruling, which included protections for Ahmadis to practice their faith at home, infuriated Islamist groups.

The TLP was banned by the Shehbaz Sharif government following a massive police crackdown on its workers last October.  At least 16 people, including policemen, were killed and over 1,600 injured in clashes between the police and supporters of TLP at Muridke, some 60 kms from Lahore, on October 10. Since then, over 7,000 TLP workers have been arrested, and its chief Saad Rizvi is underground. PTI MZ RD RD