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| India-Pakistan |
| ATC in Haripur starts hearing Mashal Khan lynching case |
| 2017-09-21 |
| [DAWN] An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Haripur on Wednesday began hearing the Mashal Khan lynching case against 57 suspects indicted a day earlier by the court. The court held its proceedings inside the Haripur jail's premises, where strict security measures were put in place to avoid a possible confrontation with zealots. Of the 18 witnesses presented before the ATC, only five coppers could record their statements on the first day of the case's proceedings. The court subsequently adjourned till September 27. Mashal Khan, a journalism student at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, was killed in April after a charged mob beat and shot him after accusing him of publishing blasphemous content online. A report compiled by a 13-member team investigating the incident stated that a group of people in the university had incited the mob on the pretext of blasphemy. The team found no proof that Mashal Khan had ever committed the offence. The report said that Mashal Khan had been vocal about the rights of students at the university and even challenged the appointment of a new vice chancellor (VC) to ensure that students were able to obtain their degrees, which was not possible without the VC’s signature. Mashal Khan was murdered in line with a plan allegedly hatched by Sabir Mayar, the president of the Awami National Party founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism.... -aligned Pakhtun Students Federation (PSF), and Ajmal, the president of the university’s employees association, the report found. |
| Posted by:Fred |