Awami National Party’s Balochistan president Asghar Khan Achakzai was arrested on Wednesday after a court in Chaman cancelled his bail in a fatal road accident case.
The Balochistan Bar Council condemned the bail cancellation and announced a boycott of court proceedings on Thursday, October 22.
The counsel for Asghar Khan Achakzai said Zahir Shah, the father of the deceased,Taimoor Shah, had lodged an FIR at a police station in Chaman accusing him of involvement in the fatal accident.
However, the applicant later withdrew Achakzai’s name and submitted an affidavit to the court. He stated, “Asghar Khan Achakzai has nothing to do with this case and he is like his brother.”
In a public statement, Shah also said Achakzai was not at fault. Reciting the Islamic declaration of faith, he affirmed that Achakzai had no involvement in the matter and said he had recorded his statement in court the previous day.
When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, the court cancelled the ANP leader’s bail. Subsequently, police arrested him.
At a press conference, the party’s parliamentary leader in the Balochistan Assembly, Zamrak Khan Piralizai, expressed serious concern over the bail cancellation and termed it a conspiracy against the leadership. He said Achakzai was being silenced as he was vocal against unconstitutional measures.
ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Mian Iftikhar Hussain questioned why the complainant’s statement in court and affidavit were being disregarded. He also asked whether the case was being used as a pretext to put pressure on Achakzai.
He said pressuring political leaders through cases and arrests would neither resolve public problems nor silence political voices. He demanded that all legal requirements be fulfilled and the relevant evidence, including the affidavit, be considered.
ANP Federal Capital Islamabad president Advocate Abdul Rahim Wazir said that if the complainant had appeared in court and submitted an affidavit stating that neither he nor his family had any role in including Achakzai’s name in the FIR, an arrest after that raised serious legal and constitutional questions.
He said depriving a citizen of liberty was no minor matter, particularly when the complainant’s own statement was on record.
Wazir described Achakzai as an outspoken advocate for the rights of Pashtuns, Baloch and other oppressed nations. He said Achakzai’s family had already suffered the loss of loved ones during its political struggle, but attempts to silence him through cases and arrests would not succeed.
Pakistan Bar Council member Munir Ahmed Khan Kakar also questioned the rejection of bail despite the affidavit. He called for transparent judicial proceedings and said Achakzai must be given the full legal right to defend himself.