QUETTA, BALOCHISTAN: Detained leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) have started a protest inside prison against what the organization describes as the shifting of their cases from court trials to jail trials and now to faceless, video-link proceedings, the committee said in a statement.
The protest began on the occasion of a scheduled court appearance by BYC leaders, during which the state reportedly attempted to conduct proceedings via video link. The BYC said this move raises serious questions about fair trial standards and judicial transparency, and amounts to a further restriction of the detained leaders’ legal and constitutional rights.
According to the BYC, the legal proceedings against its leaders have undergone repeated changes over a prolonged period. The organization said its leaders’ cases have moved through administrative detention, multiple case registrations, continuous physical remand, jail trials and have now been shifted to faceless court proceedings conducted via video link. The BYC said these repeated changes to judicial procedure are clear evidence of what it described as the subordination of Pakistan’s judicial system to intelligence agencies and the military.
The BYC stated that open court hearings, public access, and judicial oversight are fundamental principles of a fair trial. The organization said that when cases are conducted behind prison walls or through faceless and online procedures, it considers this a deliberate strategy to subject BYC leaders to further state oppression and holds the court complicit in this process.
According to the statement, detained leaders have on multiple occasions raised concerns about judicial bias and the conduct of the court during jail trial proceedings. A formal application was subsequently filed for the transfer of the presiding judge. However, the BYC said that application has remained pending for several months without being heard or acted upon.
The BYC’s detained leaders made their position clear, that their cases must be heard in open court in accordance with the constitution and the law and that they cannot be deprived of access to their lawyers, their families and public oversight of their proceedings.
The committee put forward the following demands: an immediate end to faceless trials and jail trials, the transfer of all cases to open court without delay, an urgent hearing on the long-pending application for a change of the presiding judge, and the full guarantee of all legal and constitutional rights of the detained leaders.
The BYC also addressed the state directly, stating that it is a misconception to believe that imprisoning the organization’s leaders on what it called false cases will permanently silence the public voice. The organization said it will continue to expose what it described as legal oppression by the court and the presiding judge before the Baloch people and the international community.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee announced that it will bring the ongoing prison protest of its detained leaders to the attention of the entire world, and said a formal online protest campaign against faceless courts and judicial oppression will also be announced in the coming days.
