On Tuesday, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Muzaffarabad denied bail to Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad.
Farhad went missing from his home in Islamabad on May 14 and was found in police custody at a station outside Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on May 29.
Read: Islamabad High Court Orders Recovery of Missing Poet Ahmed Farhad Shah by May 24
On June 1, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected the federal government’s request to close the recovery case of the missing poet until he appeared in person at a hearing.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the IHC heard the petition filed by Farhad’s wife, Urooj Zainab. Human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali represented Zainab, while Additional Attorney General Munawwar Iqbal represented the federation.
During the hearing, Iqbal informed the court that Farhad was on physical remand until June 2 and had been allowed to meet his family. He requested the IHC to wrap up the illegal confinement case.
Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan had previously informed the IHC on May 29 that Farhad was in police custody at a station outside Muzaffarabad. The AGP presented an AJK police report before Justice Kayani, indicating that Farhad had reunited with his family. The report stated that a meeting between Farhad and his family took place at Kohori police station.
It was not immediately clear what charges Farhad faced. He went missing from his home last month.
At the previous hearing of the case on May 24, Justice Kayani issued an eight-page written order summoning Law Minister Tarar, sector commanders of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) director, and the defense and interior secretaries.
