Karachi (Staff Report): The anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted on Saturday pre-arrest bail to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Farooq Sattar against 5 cases of his alleged involvement in hate speech.
The ATC judge expressed anger during hearing on the cases over the MQM-P chief’s absence from the court for over 9 months. However, Farooq Sattar informed the court that he was unaware of the arrest warrants issued for him.
Earlier, the ATC had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Sattar over were issued after the founding leader of MQM — in a speech to participants of a hunger strike outside the Karachi Press Club on August 22, 2016 — incited party workers after which they took to the streets, ransacked media houses and vandalised property.
Sattar further stated that he respects the court, therefore, came for the hearing as soon as he got to know about the arrest warrants. He told the courts the allegations levelled against him were baseless, but he would face the court nevertheless.
The court granted bail to Sattar, ordering him to submit bail bonds in two cases worth Rs250,000 each and of Rs50,000 each in three other cases. The hearing was adjourned till June 9.
Earlier, Sindh High Court (SHC) has granted pre-arrest bail to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Farooq Sattar against 31 cases of his alleged involvement in hate speech.
