Detained Pashtun leader Ali Wazir complains of inadequate medical facilities in Pak jail

After detained parliamentarian from South Waziristan, Ali Wazir, complained about not receiving adequate medical treatment in prison, an anti-terrorism court has directed jail authorities to provide medical treatment facilities to him.

On Saturday, the defence counsel moved an application before the court, seeking a direction for the prison authorities to provide medical treatment to Wazir, reported Dawn.

Ali, along with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen and leader Mohsin Dawar, was arrested by authorities in December last year for allegedly inciting the public against the state and using derogatory language against the security forces.

Wazir, along with millions of Pashtuns, were commemorating the sixth anniversary of the Army Public School attack in which more than 150 children and teachers were killed.

The judge directed the superintendent of Central Jail Karachi to attend to the medical needs of the undertrial prisoner, who is suffering from hypertension, uric acid problem and backache, and to submit a report on June 14.

The court also allowed the investigation officer of the case to record voice samples of Ali Wazir to send them to an Islamabad laboratory for their forensic examination and cross-matching with his alleged controversial speech on December 6, 2020, Dawn reported.

Despite the growing outcry over his 'illegal' arrest and increasing demand for his immediate release, PTM leader Wazir was remanded in police custody till December 30 by an anti-terrorism court.

Activists and opposition political parties have condemned the arrest of Wazir, who is also a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan over charges of passing derogatory remarks against state institutions.

Members of the Pashtun ethnic minority have long blamed that they have been targets of military operations and ethnic stereotyping by the Pakistani state and its security forces.

( With inputs from ANI )