Azma Bukhari reveals that assets worth Rs 23.40 billion had been frozen along with 92 bank accounts
LAHORE:
The noose was further tightened around TLP after police booked 90 of its alleged financiers, raising legal questions about how – and under which law – police applied the prohibition law retroactively.
Moreover, TLP workers, along with scores of ordinary citizens, have been facing detentions and arrests since Monday to prevent any gathering on the death anniversary of late Khadim Husain Rizvi.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Information Minister Azma Bukhari revealed that assets worth Rs 23.40 billion had been frozen along with 92 bank accounts.
She said 90 financiers involved in funding the banned group had been booked while 31 more FIRs were registered for spreading hate speech and incitement on social media platforms.
The TLP was declared a banned organization in the last week of October. Registration of FIRs against those who funded the organization before this ban raises serious questions regarding the legality of the move.
The police and the information minister were asked by The Express Pakinomist to explain how people who funded a legally functioning entity were charged, but no response was received till the filing of this report.
Dozens of people have been rounded up across the city accused of having links to the TLP to prevent any possible gathering on the party founder’s death anniversary. The widespread arrests reportedly did not even spare those who had no direct or indirect connection to the group.
One such person, Faisal Ilyas, a shopkeeper from Mustafa Town, was picked up merely to share a wall with a nearby shopkeeper who happens to be a staunch TLP supporter. When the police were asked about the logic behind this arrest – given that the victim’s dislike of TLP was well known in the area – officials simply replied that they were acting on a list provided by intelligence services and distanced themselves from responsibility.
Senior advocate Azhar Siddique, speaking to The Express Pakinomist, said it was “totally illegal” to arrest someone for funding a legitimate entity, adding that laws cannot be applied retrospectively. He said the law does not allow for such excesses. Even the detention of persons under Section 3 of the MPO, he said, was not entirely legal. “How can someone be held at a police station on a whim?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Azma told the presser that a significant amount of modern weapons, bulletproof jackets and ammunition had been recovered during operations against the organization.
She further stated that 84% of Imams across Punjab have been registered and the process will reach 100% in the coming days.
