BHC approves Shahzain Bugti's bail plea

BHC reserves judgement on bail plea after plea
was rejected by district and sessions court, Quetta.

Tribune

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court (BHC) has ordered the release of the of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) provincial president Shahzain Bugti and 26 other people on bail.

Shahzain Bugti and 26 other people were arrested on charges of recovery of heavy and dangerous weapons on December 22 by the personnel of Frontier Corps near Quetta.

Their counsel had moved the Balochistan High Court for their release on bail following rejection of their bail plea by District and Session Court Quetta .

Announcing the judgment the vacation judge of the Balochistan High Court, Mr Justice Muhammad Noor Miskanzai approved thebail application and ordered for the release of Shahzain Bugti and 26 others on submission of surety bonds of Rs 500,000 by each.

Shahzain Bugti’s bail plea rejected

Tribune

QUETTA: Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) president Shahzain Bugti’s bail plea was rejected by the additional district and sessions Judge Quetta-V on Saturday. The bail pleas of twenty-six other people arrested with Bugti were also rejected.

Bugti and twenty six other people were arrested by the Frontier Corps (FC) after they recovered huge quantities of weapons from their vehicles. The police had earlier produced all the accused in the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).

After the ATC verdict that cases against Bugti and the others don’t fall in the ambit of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the counsel for the accused filed the bail plea in the sessions court.

Dawood Khan Nasar, the judge of the Additional District and Sessions Court–V rejected the bail application.

Talking to the media, the counsel for the accused Advocate Vishva Nath Kohli, said that an application would be filed in the Balochistan High Court for the release of the JWP leader and the others on bail.

WikiLeaks founder in fresh bail bid

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is making a fresh appeal to be granted bail

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to make a fresh appeal to be granted bail when he returns to court.

The 39-year-old Australian was remanded in custody last week as he vowed to fight attempts to extradite him to Sweden for alleged sex offences.

He is due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court for a second hearing. If Assange is denied bail a second time he is expected to appeal at the High Court.

The former hacker, who is accused of sexually assaulting two women in Sweden, turned himself in to Scotland Yard detectives last week.

His legal team has claimed Swedish prosecutors have been put under political pressure to restart their inquiry to help silence and discredit Assange.

The decision to remand him in custody came despite the offer of a £180,000 surety from backers including John Pilger, Jemima Khan and Ken Loach.

The accusations against him include rape and molestation in one case and molestation and unlawful coercion in a second. Assange has denied the allegations, which he has claimed stem from a dispute over "consensual but unprotected sex".

District Judge Howard Riddle refused bail on the grounds there was a risk Assange would fail to surrender.

Meanwhile, Assange has not been handed any of his mail since he was jailed, with even his legal letters failing to reach him, his lawyer has said.

A prison source said Assange was being treated like any other inmate held in the segregation unit, which is where he had requested to be.

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