Pakistan court slaps exiled politician with life term

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

A Pakistani court on Monday sentenced a London-based politician to life in prison for “targeting the state of Pakistan and armed forces” in fiery speeches made to his followers by phone.

After he was tried in absentia, an anti-terrorist court in Pakistan’s northern Gligit district found Altaf Hussein, the self-exiled leader of the Muttehida Quami Movement (MQM), which has strong roots in port city of Karachi, guilty of the charges leveled against him.

The court sentenced him to life in prison and slapped him with a fine of 2.4 million Pakistani rupees (roughly $24,000). It also ordered his property confiscated.

The Lahore High Court had already banned coverage of Hussein’s fiery speeches -- which he had called in from his home in London -- in the Pakistani media.

Hussein, for his part, accuses the Pakistani military of targeting his party after hundreds of activists were arrested for alleged involvement in the murder of political opponents and security forces, extortion and other crimes.

The MQM was originally founded with the ostensible aim of representing the Urdu-speaking migrants who moved to Pakistan following the partition of India in 1947.

While it continues to enjoy a significant influence in the southern Sindh province, the party is accused by its critics of operating like an organized crime gang through its alleged use of violence and intimidation.

A crackdown earlier this year on militants and organized crime in Karachi also targeted the MQM, the offices of which were raided by the authorities.

The crackdown has seen more than 300 suspected drug traffickers and 200 suspected Taliban fighters killed in clashes with security forces in Karachi over the last ten months, while local media reports have suggested that at least some of the deaths amounted to extrajudicial killings.

The MQM has over 80 representatives in the Senate, the National Assembly and the state assembly of Sindh province who tendered their resignations last month to protest the crackdown.

They withdrew their resignations last week, however, following successful talks with the government.