QUETTA, BALOCHISTAN; Rahim Baloch Advocate, former Secretary General of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), has strongly condemned the sentences handed down to prominent Baloch human rights defenders, calling the trials a direct exposure of what he described as Pakistan’s colonial rule over Balochistan.
In a statement shared on social media platform X, Rahim Baloch Advocate said the sentences handed to BYC Leaders Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Sibghatullah Shaji, Balaach Qadir and other activists were sufficient to lay bare Pakistan’s systematic misuse of laws, regulations, the legal system and judicial procedures in what he called “occupied Balochistan.”
Rahim Baloch Advocate’s statement was a sharp critique of the judicial process itself. He stated that the accused were tried and sentenced by a faceless court in what he described as a sham trial built entirely on fabricated charges.
“They have been condemned without being heard,” he wrote on X, stressing that despite persistent protests by the accused against the unfair nature of the proceedings, they were denied a fair hearing in accordance with international legal standards and procedures.
The statement directly challenged the legitimacy of the court process, noting that the defendants had openly objected to the trial conditions but their objections went unaddressed by the judicial system.
Rahim Baloch Advocate’s describing Pakistan’s administration of Balochistan as “colonial rule”; he said that Balochistan is not a willing participant in the Pakistani state but an occupied territory governed through force, fear, and legal manipulation.
