After a 70-day ‘investigation’ into Ehsan Ali’s supposed crimes, the Pakistani authorities have ended his police custody. Ehsan Ali has been shifted from police lock up to jail in torturous conditions, under judicial custody. However, his lawyers now have the ability to submit a petition for his bail.
The maximum 90-day ‘investigation’ period for ‘anti-terror’ cases was only recently introduced into law and previously was just 14-days, since the days of British imperialism, whose laws are still largely followed in Pakistan even after one-and-a-half centuries.
The legislation to extend the period of police custody was clearly a delaying tactic to allow the authorities to detain and intimidate activists such as Ehsan Ali over a longer period. Prior to the move to judicial custody, some leaders of the AAC were forced to give statements in favour of the state and against Ehsan Ali, after which they were released by the police last week.
However, two individuals nominated in this case are members of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). They remain in hiding. The local authorities are now more focused on the RCP in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and have declared their intention to crush it. However, the activists are resisting with determination.
Though there is no mass movement in GB at the moment and the campaign for elections on 7 June is going on under strict control of the state, the movement in neighbouring Azad Kashmir has picked up again. The AAC there is preparing for a massive long march on 9 June towards Muzaffarabad. 9 June is also the date of elections there.
The AAC in Kashmir is continuously supporting Ehsan Ali and several resolutions have been passed in different mass meetings held in preparation for the long march.
We are now applying for Ehsan Ali’s bail so that he can be released before the Eid holidays next week, but this timescale looks unlikely as the state authorities are hellbent on crushing him at all costs.
Nevertheless, the petition for bail gives us hope of freeing Ehsan Ali from his cell, though we must continue to exert the maximum possible pressure through this campaign. Sign and share the petition, and join us in building for the international day of action on 4 June!