An anti-terrorist court on Wednesday handed over a former provincial minister, and a leader of the Muttehida Quami Movement (MQM) to Rangers on a 90-day remand in a case of hate speech.
Mansoor, former minister for sports, was arrested by Rangers along with the head of the party’s coordination committee, Kaif-ul-Wara, in a raid on the party’s headquarters “Nine Zero” for “arranging and facilitating hate speech against peace in Karachi” last week.
Kaif was later released but Mr Mansoor was booked for arranging and facilitating the recent speeches of his self-exiled party leader Altaf Hussein in which he bitterly criticised the army and Rangers leadership.
Weak and weather-beaten, Mansoor attired in white shalwar-kameez was presented before the court amid tight security. The defense counsel submitted that his client was a chronic patient of high blood pressure, and had also been suffering from pain in backbone, therefore he should be sent to the hospital for treatment.
However, the Rangers’ counsel opposing the defense counsel’s plea, said that the accused was being provided all required medical treatment in the custody. After hearing the arguments from both sides, the judge granted a 90-day remand of Mansoor, and directed the defense lawyer to present his client’s medical report before the court within a week. Earlier, the court granted the Rangers’ request for a 90-day remand of three MQM workers Yousaf Memon, Nasir Chingari, and Abdul Rehman who were arrested from different parts of the city last week for allegedly being involved in targeted killings.
