PESHAWAR: Chief of banned Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Muhammad was released from jail eight years after his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in 2009 for hate speeches against the government.
The Peshawar High Court had ordered his release last week after accepting his bail application in two different cases – one pertaining to hate speeches against the government and the other to an attack on a police station.
The TNSM chief had in the last hearing of the case argued that he should be released as his health was deteriorating with each passing day. Sufi Mohammad was escorted out of the jail premises by police officials after all official procedures were completed on Monday. He was shifted to an undisclosed location by his relatives soon after his release. On July 30, 2009, a police station in Swat had booked the TNSM chief for hate speech against the government. In that speech, Sufi Muhammad had termed the constitution un-Islamic and demanded enforcement of Sharia in the country.
Published in Daily Times, January 16th 2018.
