HR activist’s bail plea rejected
ISLAMABAD: A judge rejected bail on Saturday for a human rights activist who campaigned against alleged detentions by spy agencies, said his lawyer and family.
Khalid Khawaja, chief coordinator of Defence of Human Rights-a group fighting a legal battle for the release of dozens of missing people- disappeared on Jan 26 while on his way to a mosque for ignoring prayers.
Hours after denying his arrest, police acknowledged that it was holding him for distribution of “banned religious material” in Islamabad.
On Saturday, judge Arfan Sheikh turned down a request for Khawaja’s bail, his lawyer Hashmat Habib said. ‘Police have implicated Khawaja in a false case. I will continue this legal fight for his release.’
Khawaja’s family accused prison officials of keeping him at a cell reserved for mentally disturbed inmates. Khawaja, a retired intelligence officer, had been campaigning for the past several months for the release of dozens of people allegedly detained by intelligence agencies.
He has also openly criticised President Pervez Musharraf for supporting Washington in the war on terror.
Source: The News
Date:2/4/2007
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