June 10, 2024
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD
Poet Ahmad Farhad has been sent to jail on 14-day remand on charges of terrorism by an anti-terrorism court in Muzaffarabad.
The police presented Farhad in the court on Monday, following the completion of his physical remand. Police informed the court that the investigation into his case has concluded.
The court ordered Farhad’s transfer to jail on remand while directing that he is presented in the court again on June 24.
Poet Ahmad Farhad, known for his criticism on state policies, was abducted from his residence in Islamabad on May 15. He was mysteriously found on May 29 in Dhirkot Police (AJK), situated in village Gujjar Kohala, in Bagh district, near the AJK-KP border.
Farhad is charged under Section 6 of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA), along with sections 324, 489-Y, 109, 120-B, 148, 149, 186, 147, and 353 of the Azad Penal Code.
His wife, Syeda Urooj Zainab, tells Voicepk that he has been sent to Central Jail Rara on court order.
She says, “Everyone knows what happened to my husband. All the cases were fabricated – to silence him from raising his voice against oppression through his poetry”.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Islamabad High Court (IHC) senior puisne judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani issued a written judgment in the Ahmad Farhad case, while dismissing the petition for his recovery.
It stated, “Syed Farhad Ali Shah is declared an enforced disappearance/missing person until he reaches his home safely.”
The court observed that the forced disappearance, which began under the jurisdiction of the Loi Bher police station, inexplicably entered the legal jurisdiction of the Dhirkot police station in Azad Kashmir. The order declared that the court deemed the circumstances of Farhad’s arrest illegal.
The written order stated that Farhad is to be considered a forcibly disappeared person until he safely returns home. The decision further specified that upon his return, the investigation officer from Police Station Loi Bher should record his statement under 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before a judicial magistrate and proceed with the investigation as a result.
The court ordered that the cases be presented before IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who using his administrative powers, may constitute a larger bench to hear this case of public interest better.
The court has stated that in the next meeting of the Criminal Justice Committee, the DGs of MI, ISI and IB and the in-charge of CTD should be invited to present their recommendations and suggestions for discussion.
The court recommended that cases involving national security matters should be scheduled for in-camera hearings.