Khawar Mehdi granted bail
Quetta — The judge on March 27, granted bail to Khawar Mehdi Rizvi a journalist accused of treason after he worked with two Frenchmen reporting on Taliban milita, a defense lawyer said.
Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, was arrested in December along with reporter Marc Epsein and photographer Jean Paul Guilloteau of L’Express magazine.
Authorities claim the Frenchmen filmed tribesmen posing as fighter of Afgahnistan’s former ruling Taliban.
Rizvi has denied helping them make a fake video and his detention has been condemned by international press rights groups. He faces life in prison if convicted of treason.
The Frenchmen, who were convicted of a visa violation after traveling without permission to Quetta, which is near Afghan border, were freed in January after serving seven days in jail and then returned to France.
Judge Hashim Karar granted bail after heagina rguments fro the defence and prosecution lawyers in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province. Rizvi will not be immediately freed because the judge has asked him a submit a surety bond of Rs200,000 (US $3,500) said Muzaffar Ahmed, a prosecution lawyer.
Source: The Nation
Date:3/28/2004
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