Kashmiri Poet Ahmed Farhad Denied Bail in Anti-Terrorism Court
On june 4, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Muzaffarabad denied bail to Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad, who was reported missing from Islamabad on May 14 and later found in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) police custody on May 29.
Earlier on June 1, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected the federal government’s request to close the recovery case of Farhad. The petition, filed by Farhad’s wife Urooj Zainab and represented by human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali, was heard by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. Additional Attorney General Munawwar Iqbal, representing the federation, informed the court that Farhad had been on physical remand until June 2 and had been allowed to meet his family. He requested the IHC to close the illegal confinement case, but the request was denied. The IHC had also summoned various officials, including sector commanders of intelligence agencies, to inquire about the legal framework governing their actions.
At the outset of the hearing, Mazari stated that yet another citizen had gone missing for whom an FIR was registered four days later. When the court asked for more information, Mazari said the missing person had been posting about Kashmir on social media before he was forcibly disappeared. Justice Kayani directed Islamabad’s top cop to look into the matter, saying that the court was not taking any action yet rather it simply asking the inspector general of police to look into the situation. He stated that questions had been asked in all missing persons cases, the answers to which were still pending.
Prior to this, on May 29, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan had informed the IHC that Farhad was in police custody at a police station outside Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and had reunited with his family. Awan informed the IHC that Farhad was in AJK police custody and facing charges under the Azad Penal Code, the Telegraph Act, and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
An FIR filed by AJK police alleges that Farhad, whose real name is Farhad Ali Shah, was stopped at a checkpoint on May 29 while traveling from Rawalpindi to his village in Kashmir. The FIR accuses him of engaging in “misconduct and abusive language” towards police officers and obstructing their duties.
During the hearing, a PEMRA notification barring the broadcast of court proceedings was also discussed. Justice Kayani maintained that PEMRA “cannot ban the reporting of judges’ remarks”. Law Minister Tarar informed the court that the matter was being heard in three separate courts and lamented the current state of lawlessness. Justice Kayani observed that there was no conflict between institutions and that no individual was against the armed forces.
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