LAHORE – A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered Pir Afzal Qadri to submit a detailed apology for the remarks made by him during a protest against the Supreme Court’s acquittal of Asia Bibi last year.
The cleric, who bid farewell to the party a few days ago, was booked under sedition and terrorism charges in Gujrat and taken into protective custody during a crackdown in November 2018.
During the hearing of a bail plea filed by Qadri and TLP chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi today (Tuesday), Justice Qasim Ali Khan directed Qadri’s counsel, Hafeezur Rehman Chaudhry, to submit the attested apology letter.
On the onset of the hearing, the court dismissed the counsel’s plea not to highlight the apology letter read out by Qadri on camera and instead directed him to read it out in the court.
“He [Qadri] should have thought about it when he was using the mic,” Justice Khan remarked.
After Chaudhry read out the apology, the court directed him to define the harsh words used in the apology letter following which the counsel said that according to the record, Qadri had said that the three judges [who exonerated Aasia Bibi of blasphemy charges] were liable to be killed; that Prime Minister Imran Khan is a Zionist agent and that the Chief of Army Staff Gen Javed Qamar Bajwa’s orders should be defied.
Justice Khan remarked that the comments were an incitement to violence.
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The Qadri’s counsel reiterated that Qadri had apologised in his letter, but Justice Asjad Javed Ghural pointed out that he had declared that the judges of the higher judiciary deserve to be killed.
“Pir Afzal Qadri should have sought apology over the labels uttered against judges and generals,” observed Justice Khan.
The court directed the counsel to contact his client telephonically for a more detailed apology. The counsel complied with the instructions and informed the court that Qadri will file a more detailed apology letter on Wednesday.
Qadri Apologizes for Remarks
The detained leader of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Pir Muhammad Afzal Qadri had tendered an apology to the Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa for his earlier statements.
In a video message released a few weeks ago, Qadri also apologized to government representatives and judiciary for his remarks made in the ‘rush of emotions’ in the aftermath of Supreme Court’s decision regarding the acquittal of Christian woman, Aasia Bibi.
The TLP leader read a statement on camera and claimed that he had already decided to bid farewell to the political party last year and had informed his associates, announcing that he is practically retiring from the party.
