A division bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC) comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and S. Ali Aslam Jaffery on Wednesday disposed of a constitutional petition challenging alleged illegal detention of freelance journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi.
Earlier Deputy Attorney General Syed Zaki Mohammed informed the bench that crime FIR number 2/2004 has been registered at Crime Branch, Quetta.
Nadeem Qureshi advocate, counsel for petitioner Sohail Mehdi Rizvi, sought direction from the court to the authorities to allow meeting of detainee with his counsel.
The bench rejected the request as the accused is in territorial jurisdiction of Balochistan High Court.
Khawar Mehdi Rizvi was charged under section 120-B, 419 and others.
Khawar Rizvi conducted French newsmen to Quetta in violation of visa restrictions. Both Frenchmen were tried, sentenced and later freed after an SHC bench commuted their sentence.
PRODUCED IN COURT: Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, who has been missing since he was arrested with two French reporters five weeks ago, has been produced in court on sedition charges, officials said on Wednesday.
Two others were produced before a judicial magistrate on Tuesday in Quetta.
"He was produced before the judicial magistrate and the magistrate remanded him to police custody for investigation," a police official told AFP.
Rizvi, Syed Allah Noor and Abdullah Shakir have been charged with sedition, criminal conspiracy and impersonation for allegedly preparing a film of a fake Taleban training camp between Quetta and the Afghan border.
Rizvi's whereabouts had been a mystery for around five weeks as authorities denied he was under detention, although state-run television had shown him in police custody soon after his arrest.
"I am really mentally tired and suffered a lot and I saw the sky after weeks in police custody," Rizvi told reporters at the court.
International rights group and media organisations have slammed Rizvi's arrest.
The PTV had shown footage, allegedly seized from the French journalists, in which Noor and Shakir were seen training a small group of young men in the use of weapons.
The film showed Shakir posing as Taleban commander Mullah Malangi, police said.
The accused face a maximum punishment of 10 years' jail.
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