A Pakistani court yesterday ordered the release of the founder of an Islamic militant group accused of having links to last year’s Mumbai attacks, his lawyer said.
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was detained and placed under house arrest in of Lahore weeks after New Delhi said the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group he founded was involved in the Nov. 26 attacks.
Saeed also heads the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which was banned by the UN as a terrorist organization and a political front for the LeT in December.
His attorney, A.K. Dogar, said a three-member bench of the Lahore High Court had lifted the restrictions on his movement.
“The honorable judges ruled that his detention was illegal and unconstitutional and therefore Hafiz Saeed and his aides should be released,” Dogar told reporters outside the courtroom.
“Today’s order is a testimony to the fact that in this country sovereignty lies in Allah Almighty and the Holy Koran,” he said as JuD supporters raised slogans of “God is Great.”
Pakistani authorities have also closed the charity’s offices. However, the organization has resurfaced under a new name, the Falah-e-Insaniat, or Human Welfare, Foundation.
The foundation is running a massive relief operation for thousands of people displaced by the ongoing operation against Taliban in Swat and three neighboring districts.
“The verdict by a full bench of the court proves that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Jamaat-ud-Dawa have no connections with terrorism,” said Yahya Mujahid, a JuD spokesman.
Mujahid said the charity had not abandoned its welfare activities and never would.
“Service to humanity is an obligation for Muslims,” he said.
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