THE streets of Kashmore have been witnessing an unusual sight; an elderly woman, surrounded by people dancing around her, distributing pamphlets among shopkeepers and community members.
This woman is Begum Khatoon, who is campaigning for the elections by ‘promoting her culture’. The cultural dance is an integral part of her drive. For her, ‘fear’ is certainly not an option, and she makes it clear by joining the dancers once she is done with the distribution of her manifesto.
Unfazed by any possible repercussions for contesting the general elections, Ms Khatoon has received a ticket from the Awami Workers Party (AWP) for PS-04 (Kashmore-I). Abdul Rauf Khosa of PPP will also be contesting from the same constituency.
This is the first time Ms Khatoon will be vying for a seat in the provincial assembly, having previously taken part in local government elections.
“I have grown up in this area and live around eight kilometres from the main city of Kashmore. I am a farmer and I work on fields of rice and wheat. I am well versed with the problems plaguing my area and feel that I need to come out and exercise my right to contest elections, because why should I not? Just because stronger landowners have been able to come at the forefront does not translate to us staying on the margins,” she stresses.
Ms Khatoon, 64, is nimble for her age. She arrived to canvass the people on the motorbike, driven by her son. Her entire family is supportive of her cause and rally behind her as she goes from one person to the next, explaining her manifesto to them in Sindhi.
“Our towns need to have access to all utilities including water, gas and electricity. The schools and colleges especially for girls are in a deplorable condition and this issue should be addressed urgently. Another grave problem which keeps coming back is the killing of women in the name of ‘honour’. I want to ensure that women are safe from kidnappings and such violent incidents so that equality and harmony prevails,” she explains.
The last time she took part in an election, Ms Khatoon recalls, her water access was completely cut off by the area’s feudal landlord, while her son was also put behind bars on what she calls ‘trumped up charges’.
“In light of this, many people came to favour my cause and ultimately my tribulations ended. I am aware that I am taking a risk yet again, but I do not think I have the option to be fearful, rather being fearless is the only way to exist. The representatives whom we have voted for in the past vanish to Karachi or Islamabad after garnering votes, so it’s about time that we stood up for ourselves,” she said.
ABIDJAN: Hosts Ivory Coast stunned Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, knocking out the reigning champions on penalties in the last 16 to keep their hopes of winning the title on home soil alive.
A week ago it looked as if the Ivorians were set for a humiliating group-stage exit from their own Afcon, but now they are into the quarter-finals after beating Senegal 5-4 on penalties following a tie that finished 1-1 at the end of extra time.
The Elephants scraped into the knockout phase with the worst record of the four best third-placed sides to advance, after finishing the first round with a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea, their heaviest ever home defeat.
They followed that by sacking veteran French coach Jean-Louis Gasset and trying unsuccessfully to bring in former boss Herve Renard on a short-term deal.
But instead former player Emerse Fae was appointed on an interim basis, hoping to rouse a shell-shocked team for a daunting tie against the holders.
It looked like being a trying evening for Ivory Coast in Yamoussoukro as Senegal went ahead in the fourth minute when Habib Diallo brought down Sadio Mane’s cross from the left and finished emphatically.
Mane then escaped with a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Ibrahim Sangare soon after, although Senegal also felt hard done by early in the second half.
Ismaila Sarr went down in the box in a tangle of legs with Odilon Kossounou, but no penalty was given and the referee did not come across to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Instead, it was the Ivorians who won a late penalty of their own, a VAR review showing that Nicolas Pepe was chopped down by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Franck Kessie of Saudi club Al Ahli, who was dropped to the bench at kick-off, converted the penalty to force extra time.
With no further scoring, it came down to penalties, and Senegal’s Moussa Niakhate was the only player to miss, seeing his effort strike the post.
Kessie then netted the decisive kick to take Ivory Coast through to a last-eight tie against Mali or Burkina Faso in the central city of Bouake on Saturday.
“We are feeling a lot of emotion,” Ivory Coast striker Sebastien Haller told broadcaster Canal Plus Afrique. “The last few days have not been easy but we had to believe in ourselves.”
Senegal go out after being the only team to win all three games during the group stage, and their elimination means no reigning champion has made it beyond the first knockout round of a Cup of Nations since Egypt won a third consecutive title in 2010.
Earlier on Monday, Cape Verde won an Afcon knockout tie for the first time in their history as a late Ryan Mendes penalty gave them a 1-0 victory over Mauritania in Abidjan.
The tie was drifting towards extra time when Cape Verde won a spot-kick as substitute Gilson Tavares Benchimol was brought down in the box by Mauritania goalkeeper Babacar Niasse.
Captain Mendes then converted with just two minutes of the 90 remaining to break the resistance of a Mauritania side appearing in the knockout phase for the first time.
Cape Verde advance to a quarter-final on Saturday in Yamoussoukro against either Morocco or South Africa in San-Pedro.
The tiny Atlantic Ocean island nation had got out of their group in two of their three previous appearances at the Afcon but had never before won a knockout tie.
“We are proud of everything we have done up to now. We always tried to win the game and we thoroughly deserved the victory,” said Cape Verde coach Pedro ‘Bubista’ Brito, who believes his side can go further still in the tournament.
“We have our objective, which from day one has been to get to the semi-finals. We are one step away from that now and we are going to keep going, while obviously staying humble and respecting our opponents, but we believe. That is our focus and we are going to try and get there.”
After a special court handed former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi 10-year jail sentences each in connection with a case involving the disclosure of state secrets, legal experts and political analysts unanimously criticised the verdict, questioning its merit as well as the haste with which the trial was concluded.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
The conviction, which came after Special Court (Official Secrets Act) judge Abual Hasnat Mohammad Zulqarnain appointed a state counsel for Imran and Qureshi — a move they vehemently opposed — means that both stand disqualified from contesting elections for the next five years, including the one that is a little over a week away.
Here is what legal eagles and political experts Dawn.com reached out to had to say about the verdict:
Highly unfortunate and overly rushed decision: Rida Hosain
Lawyer Rida Hosain said that the right to a fair trial “is enshrined in the Constitution as an independent and absolute right”.
“The superior courts have gone so far as to say that if an accused cannot be tried fairly, they should not be tried at all,” she said. “The right to be represented by a counsel of one’s choice is a fundamental aspect of a fair trial. There was no justification for depriving Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi of this crucial right. The farcical manner in which the trial was carried out has compromised the entire process.
“As regards the merits, a sentence of ten years can only be imposed if it is shown that an accused has acted in the interest or benefit of a foreign power, or the offence relates to the defence of Pakistan, or the offence is in relation to any secret official code.”
She recalled that when the Supreme Court had approved Imran and Qureshi’s post-arrest bails in December, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah had stated that there was no “sufficient incriminating material available’ at that stage that showed that Imran Khan acted in the interest or benefit of a foreign power, or disclosed information relating to the defence installations, or disclosed any secret official code”.
“The SC bail order is a tentative view but shows that not all offences under the Official Secrets Act attract such harsh punishments. It is a highly unfortunate and overly rushed decision, and it is hoped that it will be overturned in appeal.”
Transparency, speed of trial leaves judiciary with little credibility: Basil Nabi Malik
Lawyer Basil Nabi Malik also criticised the manner as well as the speed with which the trial was wrapped, saying, “There are times when legal decisions assume a political flavour, and then there are times when politics is cloaked with a legal cover. There may be some who would defend the processes culminating in the overall conviction in the instant matter, but it is problematic on many levels.
“Appointing state counsels to defend those being prosecuted at a time when the state itself is being accused of victimizing Imran Khan and Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, controversies regarding the manner, mode, and level of transparency in the trial, jail or otherwise, and the speed with which the decision has been announced, leave the judiciary with little credibility.
“Providing the other side with a proper opportunity to be heard is a cardinal principle in our legal system, and when the accused may seem reluctant to proceed, it becomes even more important to ensure that justice has not only been done but is seen to be done.
“In the matter of this decision, how many can say that either of the two principles have been fulfilled?
Punishment for playing politics at over foreign relations should’ve been through electorate: Abdul Moiz Jaferii
Another lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii also questioned why the case proceedings were wrapped up in a haste, but also wondered on what basis the 10-year sentence was handed.
“This ten-year sentence implies that the trial court saw it fit to try Imran khan under s3 of the act which requires intent of espionage and the knowledge of such detriment to the state through collusion with an enemy. It would be amazing to see how this could be proven,” he said.
“The lesser s5 punishments for negligent handling of such missives or the retention of them as added to the law in August 2023 can also not apply in my opinion, as they would still require a negligently handled missive to contain a code or secret language capable of being interpreted and decoded. It is admitted that Imran khan was handling a deciphered version of the communication.
“This was a prime minister playing politics at the expense of diplomatic relations. The punishment for this can only be from the electorate, not through the abuse of laws that clearly do not apply to the circumstances.”
Integrity and impartiality of the court under question: Mirza Moiz Baig
Lawyer Mirza Moiz Baig said that the verdict will be remembered for the “extraneous reasons” the trial was conducted in, and raises concerns about the “integrity and impartiality” of the court.
“While it may be premature to comment on the merits of the judgment rendered today, the mystery that shrouded the trial and the haste with which the trial proceeded raise concerns about the integrity and impartiality of the trial court,” he said.
“Concerns with respect to the accused’s right to due process and fair trial are also aggravated by the fact that they were not represented by lawyers of their choosing.
“The judgment rendered today would thus be remembered less for the hyper-technical reasons it proffers but for the extraneous reasons that the trial was really about.”
Twitter has been abuzz with discussions following the news, with many sharing their disappointment with the court’s verdict, underscoring the problem of a weakened democracy.
Senior journalist Baqir Sajjad Syed deemed the verdict “disappointing”, adding that “using the guise of a leaked cable to silence dissent is a blow to democracy.”
Talk show host Shahzeb Khanzada was of the view that the judgment was announced “without following due process” and that the hearing was “conducted in haste”.
In a post on X, Khanzada said that even though there was strong evidence against Imran and Qureshi, relief from the high court would be “imminent”, keeping in view the way the trial was conducted.
Header image: The file photo shows former prime minister Imran Khan speaking to media representatives in Lahore. — AFP
Hong Kong will create its own national security law “as soon as possible”, city leader John Lee said on Tuesday, adding insurrection and other crimes not covered by existing legislation imposed by Beijing four years ago.
Massive pro-democracy protests rocked the finance hub in 2019, bringing hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to call for greater freedoms.
In response, Beijing imposed a national security law to punish four major crimes — secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces — with sentences ranging up to life in prison.
Officials on Tuesday said Hong Kong’s security law — mandated by Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution — will cover five offences: treason, insurrection, espionage, destructive activities endangering national security, and external interference.
“While we society as a whole looks calm and very safe, we still have to watch out for potential sabotage and undercurrents that try to create troubles, particularly some of the independent Hong Kong ideas that are still embedded in some people’s minds,” Lee told a press conference.
“The threats to national security are real, we have experienced them and suffered from them badly […] we don’t want to go through that painful experience again,” he said, adding that “some foreign agents may still be active in Hong Kong”.
“I must stress that the Basic Law Article 23 legislation must be done […] as soon as possible,” Lee said, noting the city had waited 26 years to make it a reality.
Lee said the consultation process for the law — which runs until the end of February — would be “open”, with the document published online and the government planning to discuss it with local and foreign groups.
He also said he anticipated “badmouthing” of the new law, while insisting it would soon dissipate.
“When people see that this law will bring security and stability, they will love it,” he said.
‘Put a full stop’
Since the British handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, the city has been under a “one country, two systems” regime, in which the legal and court structures are separate from the mainland.
Under its mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, Hong Kong is required to enact a law combating seven security-related crimes, including treason and espionage.
The first legislative attempt in 2003 was shelved after half a million Hong Kongers took to the streets to protest the move.
Critics of the existing national security law have said it has affected Hong Kong’s status as an international hub since its enactment in 2020, pointing to an ongoing talent drain as foreign companies reconsider the city as its Asia base.
The law’s expansive reach has also had chilling effects, observers say — quietening Hong Kong’s once-vibrant civil society space and shuttering news outlets and radio programmes.
But Lee downplayed the law’s impact, pointing to an increase in the number of foreign and mainland companies choosing to open in Hong Kong.
“I am very confident the earlier we finish enacting Article 23, what has been troubling us for over 26 years, we can put a full stop to it and we can focus comprehensively on economic development,” he said.
He added that the law would not send arrested people to mainland China — a hot topic for Hong Kongers as it was an extradition bill proposed in 2019 that sparked the massive pro-democracy protests.
“The law we are legislating will have no element at all about sending any arrested persons in Hong Kong to the mainland. So that is very clear,” he said.
Since Beijing’s law was enacted in 2020, 290 people have been arrested on national security grounds — including dozens of the city’s prominent elected politicians, democracy activists, rights lawyers, unionists, and journalists.
More than 30 have been convicted under the existing law, while dozens have been held in pre-trial detention for over two years.
A special court established under the Official Secrets Act on Tuesday handed both former premier Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 10 years in jail in the cipher case.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
The verdict comes nine days before the February 8 general elections, which the PTI is contesting amid a state crackdown and without an electoral symbol.
This is Imran’s second conviction as he was also convicted in the Toshakhana case on Aug 5, and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended his sentence. However, a division bench had later rejected Imran’s petition seeking the suspension of the conviction.
This is the former foreign minister’s first conviction.
Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain announced the verdict in the case. At the outset of the hearing, Imran and Qureshi were given a questionnaire under Section 342 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
After Imran recorded his statement, the court asked him about the whereabouts of the cipher, to which he replied: “I have said the same in my statement that I do not know. The cipher was in my office.”
The judge then sentenced the two to 10 years in jail in the case. After announcing the verdict, the judge stepped out of the courtroom, at which Qureshi protested that his statement was not recorded.
PTI decries ‘sham trial’, to challenge verdict in IHC
In a post on X, PTI official issued a statement saying that Pakistan stood with Imran and Qureshi “who defended Pakistan and stood for haqeeqi azadi”.
“No such sham trial can change what happened in March-April 2022, on the orders of Donald Lu,” the statement added.
“A complete mockery and disregard of the law in the cipher case shall not lead us to forget our primary responsibility in order to provide justice to Imran and Qureshi.”
The statement urged the public to come out and vote on February 8.
“God willing kaptaan and vice kaptaan will be back soon, and this sentence will be (thrown) in the dustbin in the appeal stage,” it concluded.
PTI leader Gohar Khan said that the special court judge had announced the verdict in haste, adding that proceedings were not being conducted in accordance with the law and the Constitution.
“He asked questions himself and the way our witness was cross-examined, you cannot find any such examples in history,” he said while speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court.
He requested all the “well-wishers” of the country to show patience and not react to the court order in any capacity.
“We trust the high and the Supreme Court. At the end of the day, we will eventually get relief. Even if they convict us then it would be quashed […] Do not get angry, don’t take the law in your hands. You do not have to throw a single stone, you should show patience,” he said.
PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan urged party workers to “remain calm and not indulge in any activity that undermines our traditional stance of a peaceful struggle”.
“We will appeal against this decision in the high court and continue our battle,” he said. “The current kangaroo court ruling will not deter us from foregoing this principle come what may,” he added.
“We should harness and channel these energies for the polling day on February 8 to ensure that PM Imran Khan’s nominated candidates are returned to the assemblies with a thumping majority,” he said.
“Sham trial. Sham decision. It will be reversed. Don’t fall in their trap. Our vote on February 8 will be our first response,” said PTI’s Taimur Jhagra.
Speaking to Geo News, PTI counsel Barrister Ali Zafar said he would file an appeal tomorrow in the Islamabad High Court, calling it a “blessing in disguise.”
“The case was going good but in recent days the judge changed everything and this was a mistrial. A criminal trial needs to be a fair trial,” he said.
When asked if 10 years was a long enough punishment for the PTI leaders, Zafar said, “Punishment is handed out when a crime has been committed. There was no crime committed, and no trial held.”
Case history
In December, the Supreme Court had approved the post-arrest bails of Imran and Qureshi. While Imran remained incarcerated in other cases, Qureshi’s expected release was also stalled as he was re-arrested in a fresh May 9 case.
Days later, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb had restrained the special court from proceeding against the suspects — including Qureshi — till Jan 11, noting that there were “legal errors” in the case.
The special court had begun the cipher trial afresh last month at the Adiala district jail after Imran and Qureshi were indicted for a second time in the case on December 13.
The former premier and Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were first indicted in the case in October. Both had pleaded not guilty. The IHC had termed the government’s notification for a jail trial “erroneous” and scrapped the entire proceedings.
Last week, state defence counsels had been appointed due to the previously appointed ones who had agreed to conduct cross-examinations not appearing in the next two court hearings.
Imran had said the trial was nothing less than a “joke” because the prosecution and defence team both belonged to the government.
Pakistan’s ranking on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has improved by seven spots from 140 out of 180 countries in 2022 to 133 in 2023, Transparency International said in a report on Tuesday.
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
The report published today by the Berlin-based corruption watchdog, shows that during 2023, the country’s ranking was 133 while the CPI score was 29 out of 100.
In comparison, Pakistan’s ranking in 2022 was 140, unchanged from the previous year, while the CPI score was 27.
Image via TI website
It should be noted that neighbouring India’s CPI score dropped from 40 in 2022 to 39 in 2023.
In his remarks, Transparency International Pakistan Chairman Justice (retd) Zia Pervez noted the improvement in Pakistan’s score in the index.
He said that policies aimed at better governance and effective enforcement of the law were expected to yield positive results in the future, as well as implementation of the recommendations by Transparency International.
The 2023 CPI shows that most countries have made little to no progress in tackling public sector corruption. The CPI global average remains unchanged at 43 for the twelfth year in a row, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50.
Image via TI website
According to the Rule of Law Index, the world is experiencing a decline in the functioning of justice systems. Countries with the lowest scores in this index are also scoring very low on the CPI, highlighting a clear connection between access to justice and corruption, the report said.
Transparency International Chair Francois Valerian said: “Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check. When justice is bought or politically interfered with, it is the people who suffer. Leaders should fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions that uphold the law and tackle corruption. It is time to end impunity for corruption.”
Global highlights
Image via TI website
Denmark (90) tops the index for the sixth consecutive year, with Finland and New Zealand following closely with scores of 87 and 85, respectively. Due to well-functioning justice systems, these countries are also among the top scorers in the Rule of Law Index.
Somalia (11), Venezuela (13), Syria (13), South Sudan (13) and Yemen (16) take the bottom spots in the index. They are all affected by protracted crises, mostly armed conflicts.
Twenty-three countries — among them some high-ranking democracies like Iceland (72), the Netherlands (79), Sweden (82) and the United Kingdom (71), as well as some authoritarian states like Iran (24), Russia (26), Tajikistan (20) and Venezuela (13) — are all at historic lows this year.
Since 2018, 12 countries have significantly declined on their CPI scores. The list includes low and middle-income countries such as El Salvador (31), Honduras (23), Liberia (25), Myanmar (20), Nicaragua (17), Sri Lanka (34) and Venezuela (13), as well as upper-middle and high income economies like Argentina (37), Austria (71), Poland (54), Turkey (34) and the United Kingdom (71).
Eight countries improved on the CPI during that same period: Ireland (77), South Korea (63), Armenia (46), Vietnam (42), the Maldives (40), Moldova (39), Angola (33) and Uzbekistan (31).
India’s navy said on Monday it had freed an Iranian fishing vessel that had been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia in the latest attack against shipping in the Indian Ocean.
The hijacking off Somalia fuelled concerns about a resurgence of Indian Ocean raids by opportunistic pirates, coming on top of a separate surge of attacks launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“The fishing vessel had been boarded by pirates and the crew taken as hostages,” Indian navy spokesman Commander Vivek Madhwal said, naming the vessel as the Iranian-flagged Iman.
India had deployed its warship INS Sumitra — which was on anti-piracy patrol off the east coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden — after receiving a distress message from the fishing vessel.
The warship “intercepted the vessel” and then worked to “coerce” the hijackers to release the crew and boat, Madhwal said, without giving an exact location.
The warship “ensured the successful release of all 17 crew members along with the boat”, he added, with the fishing boat then “sanitised and released for onward transit”.
The navy, which released photographs of the Iranian fishing boat and crew, as well as its sailors towing a skiff, did not give further details of the operation or the fate of the pirates.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched scores of attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeting Israeli-linked vessels in response to Israel’s military offensive against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.
‘Piracy of opportunity’?
International naval forces have been diverted north from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, sparking fears that pirates will exploit the security gap, with the first successful case of Somali piracy since 2017 recorded in December.
Eric Jaslin, the head of France-based Maritime Information Cooperation and Awareness (MICA) Centre, said last month it was still too early to say if attacks were the result of “piracy of opportunity” or because military resources were “focused on the Red Sea”.
Pirate attacks off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 — with the gunmen launching attacks as far as 3,655 kilometres from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean — before falling off sharply after international navies sent warships and commercial shipping deployed armed guards.
India’s navy has been deployed continuously off Somalia since 2008, but in December sent a far larger force — including three guided-missile destroyers and P-8I reconnaissance aircraft to “maintain a deterrent presence” after a string of shipping attacks.
India, which has close trade ties with Iran, has not joined the US-led maritime task force in the Red Sea to protect international shipping against attacks by Houthi rebels.
On January 5, Indian navy commandos in the Arabian Sea boarded the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MV Lila Norfolk after a failed hijacking attempt.
On Saturday, suspected Somali pirates boarded and hijacked the Sri Lankan fishing trawler Lorenzo Putha-4 with six crew, about 840 nautical miles (1,555 km) southeast of the Somali capital Mogadishu, the Sri Lankan navy said.
Last month, Somali pirates hijacked the bulk carrier MV Ruen.
The Bulgaria-owned and Malta-flagged vessel was seized by Somali pirates 380 nautical miles east of the Yemeni island of Socotra on December 16.
The pirates, who released one injured sailor into the care of the Indian navy, took the MV Ruen and its remaining 17 crew members to Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland.
