KARACHI, 12 March 2006 — Two doctors, Akmal Waheed and Arshad Waheed, have been detained for one month under maintenance of public order (MPO), a day after a high court ordered their release from jail.
The Sindh High Court on Friday ordered they be set free after setting aside their conviction on charges of harboring activists of Al-Qaeda linked group, Jundullah. Prison authorities yesterday confirmed that they had received a notification from the provincial Home Department ordering the detention of the two doctors for a period of one month.
The high court announced the verdict on the appeals filed by the doctor brothers against their conviction by an anti-terror court. They were charged with providing medical treatment to Jundullah activists and harboring absconders.
The two were held in July 2004.
The court allowed the appeal and ordered the release of the doctors provided they were not required in any other case.
“We are of the considered view that the prosecution has failed miserably to prove the case against the appellants, therefore, the conviction and sentence awarded to the appellants are set aside,” observed the high court.
The two were awarded seven years’ imprisonment last year by the anti-terror court.
