Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
A leading human rights activist who has been campaigning against enforced disappearances in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, was killed in 2011. He was sentenced to life in prison for killing a soldier at a 2024 rally.
Balochistan Unity Committee (BYC) leader Mahrang Baloch has been charged with murder and terrorism along with activist Sibghatullah.
Prosecutors accused the couple of inciting a mob that carried out a brutal attack on a minor soldier, Shabbir Ahmed.
Activists who boycotted the hearing along with their legal team denied the allegations.
A security official said Baloch made a “very provocative speech” at a protest in the port city of Gwadar, where 30-40 people attacked the army’s car with sticks and stones.
The official said Shabir Ahmed was separated from the others and beaten to death.
An anti-terrorism court in Quetta said Baloch and Sibagatula “actively participated in an illegal meeting of the Baloch Unity Committee and had a common objective in the killing of a federal constabulary official.”
He sentenced them to life imprisonment and ordered them to pay a fine of 200,000 Pakistani rupees (£543; $719) to Ahmed’s heirs.
Local media reported that Baloch and Sibgatullah had been jailed for two years for various crimes.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has called for an immediate review of the verdict.
The state “continues its policy of treating radicalization of fundamental rights activists in the same way, resulting in administrative and judicial decisions being one-sided and one-sided,” he said.
Lawyer Nadia Baloch, the husband’s sister, and a group of human rights activists said they were denied due process and rejected the ruling.
The verdict was handed down by a “faceless court” and defense lawyers testified that eyewitnesses could not testify via video link.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg criticized the trial, describing it as a “mockery of justice”, describing it as “absolutely secret” and accusing the Pakistani government of criminalizing dissent.
A spokesman for the Balochistan government told the Associated Press news agency that prosecutors had “irrefutable evidence” and said the case was not politically motivated.
