A Pakistani court sentenced to 3 years in prison for the murder of a politician in London. (Representative)
Islamabad:
Three Pakistani men who orchestrated and committed the murder of a political rival in exile in London were sentenced to life in prison on Thursday in Pakistan.
Imran Farooq, a founding member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, was stabbed and beaten to death in Edgware in north-west London when he returned home in September 2010.
The judge of a Pakistani anti-terrorist court sentenced Mohsin Ali, Khalid Shamim and Moazzam Ali to life for “murder under conspiracy and complicity”, special prosecutor Khwaja Imtiaz told AFP.
Imtiaz said the judge also concluded that the murder had been ordered by MQM party leader Altaf Hussain – currently in exile in the UK – and called on the Pakistani and British governments to bring it to court so that he will be judged.
Critics of the MQM – formerly the most powerful political force in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi – claimed that the murder of Farooq was linked to an internal dispute within the party, led from London by Hussain for more than two decades .
The MQM strongly denied these assertions.
“Today’s conviction marks a team effort between British and Pakistani legal agencies working together to seek justice for the murder of Dr Imran Farooq,” said British High Commissioner for Pakistan Christian Turner.
Farooq was twice elected as a deputy in Pakistan, but went into hiding in 1992 when the government ordered military repression against party activists and sought asylum in Britain in 1999.
He was wanted in Pakistan on numerous charges, including torture and murder related to MQM activities, but always claimed that the charges were politically motivated.
The MQM, long accused of extortion and murder to consolidate its grip on power, has been blamed for years of fomenting ethnic violence in the sprawling city.
He clashed repeatedly with the authorities until the security forces launched a brutal “clean-up” operation in 2013 which was overwhelmed with charges of extrajudicial killings and which saw political violence decline. significantly in the southern port city.
The MQM lost its grip on Karachi during the 2018 general elections, its Pakistani faction is now allied with the ruling Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Prime Minister Imran Khan.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
