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Pakistani rights groups protest spying conviction

ISLAMABAD: Rights groups on Wednesday criticised the conviction for espionage of a Pakistani man who was among hundreds of people allegedly abducted and held without charge by intelligence agencies.

Imran Munir, 27, who went missing almost a year ago, was convicted a week ago by a military court, senior Interior Ministry official Colonel Javed Iqbal Lodhi said.

“A military court convicted Munir for spying against the country,” Lodhi told AFP. He did not say what sentence was handed to Munir or for whom he had been convicted of spying.

News of his fate came as the families of many of the 250 “disappeared” attended the Supreme Court in Islamabad for the latest hearings of their petitions to discover the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Most were allegedly picked up in connection with Pakistan’s role in the US-led “war on terror” and its efforts to curb an insurgency in Balochistan.

Iqbal Haider, secretary general of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said Munir had received an eight-year jail sentence and had been refused the right to a lawyer.

“This is highly regrettable that Munir was denied the right to defence by military authorities,” Haider told reporters outside the court. afp

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