Protests at Baloch terror trial
Drop all charges against Marri and Baluch
Stop abusing the anti-terror laws
Human rights campaigners are not terrorists
London – 1 December 2008
On Monday 1 December, the Baloch 'terrorism' trial resumed in London.
Friends and supporters of the defendants, Hyrbyair Marri and Faiz
Baluch, staged a protest outside the court, calling for the trial to
be halted and the charges dropped.
Photos of the protests are available to view and download for publication here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11288615@N00/?saved=1
Although the police and court officials were needlessly bullying,
forcing the protesters to leave the court grounds, the supporters of
the defendants made their point and were seen by court staff and by
everyone who came to the court and who passed by it.
The Balochistan human rights campaigners Hyrbyair Marri and Faiz
Baluch are being prosecuted on terrorism charges, which are widely
believed to have been concocted by Pakistani intelligence.
Monday's protest was supported by Baloch and Sindhi rights campaigners
from Pakistan and by members of CAMPACC, the UK Campaign Against
Criminalising Communities, which opposes abuses of the anti-terror
laws.
Mr Marri and Mr Baluch are represented in court by two of the UK's
leading human rights barristers, Henry Blaxland QC and Dame Helena
Kennedy QC.
Mr Marri is a former MP and government minister in the regional
assembly of Balochistan – a previously independent state, which was
invaded and annexed by Pakistan in 1948, and which has ever since been
under illegal Pakistani military occupation . Mr Baluch is his campaign
assistant.
"The Pakistan High Commissioner , speaking on behalf of the new
democratic government of Pakistan , says his government wants
reconciliation in Baluchistan and opposes the prosecution, effectively
calling for the charges to be dropped," says human rights campaigner
Peter Tatchell , who helped coordinate Monday's protest.
"Previously, the acting Interior Minister of Pakistan, Rehman Malik,
announced that terror charges against Mr Marri in Pakistan have been
cancelled; stating that the case against him had been politically
motivated by the Musharraf dictatorship. This discredits the whole
basis on which Marri and Baluch have been charged in London.
"The trial is another abuse of the anti-terror laws, whereby
legitimate human rights campaigners end up on trial.
"It appears that the UK government has been blackmailed into arresting
these men and harassing other Baloch exiles and refugees. It is
reported that Pakistan's military and intelligence services have
threatened to end all cooperation with the UK government in the " war
on terror " unless critics of its war in Balochistan are silenced and
jailed. That is probably why Marri and Baluch are on trial.
"The UK authorities seem to have decided these men are expendable for
the sake of the 'greater good' of tackling terrorism by maintaining
close relations with the Pakistani military and intelligence services.
"Marri and Baluch have campaigned for self-determination for
Balochistan and helped expose Pakistan's annexation and oppression of
the Baloch nation. They are defending their people against military
oppression and economic exploitation. Pakistani military chiefs want
them prosecuted because they have been such effective campaigners,
exposing to the world Islamabad's tyranny in Balochistan.
"For nine years, the UK's Labour government aided and abetted the
illegal dictatorship of Pervez Musharraf , selling him military
equipment that was used to prosecute Pakistan's illegal war in
Balochistan – a war that has involved the perpetration of war crimes
and crimes against humanity and which has been strongly condemned by
international human rights groups," said Mr Tatchell.
Further information: Peter Tatchell – 020 7403 1790
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