KARACHI: Founder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain was charged with a terrorism offense by the British police on Thursday for delivering a speech in August 2016 that purportedly incited his followers in Karachi and triggered violent protests in the city.
According to an official statement by authorities in London, “detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command” charged Hussain for his speech which was “likely to be understood by some or all of the members of the public” as “a direct or indirect encouragement to them to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.”
A London court subsequently approved a conditional bail after the MQM founder pleaded not guilty to the charges, asking him not to travel without the court’s approval or appear on media in the United Kingdom or Pakistan.
He was also told to stay at his residence every night under strict curfew between midnight and 9am.
Hussain, who went into self-imposed exile in the beginning of 1990s, can face up to seven years imprisonment for his 2016 speech under the British law.
He was known for his fiery addresses to his supporters in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and wealthiest city, through a loudspeaker connected to a telephone at his London residence.
His party dominated the country’s commercial hub since the 1980s and had such a strong hold over the city that its leader could bring life to a standstill by only making a few telephone calls.
Previously, Hussain was investigated over the murder of Imran Farooq, an MQM founding member, who was stabbed to death in London in 2010.
He was also questioned in the past over money laundering charges and hate speech. Other than that, he is wanted in Pakistan in connection with a murder case.
The next hearing of his case will take place at the Central Criminal Court on November 1.
