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Pakistani Judicial Review Board on Wednesday set aside a request from authorities to extend the house arrest of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and ordered his immediate release days before the anniversary of the 26/11 attack. The board rejected the plea to extend his detention on the grounds of insufficient evidence, reported a Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
Saeed who is accused and mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people nearly nine years ago, had been placed under house arrest in January, largely because of pressure from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force that tracks terror financing.
During a hearing by the judicial review board on Tuesday, the Punjab government had said Pakistan might face sanctions from the international community if the JuD chief is released. The board comprises judges of the Lahore high court. Under Pakistani laws, the government can detain a person for up to three months under different charges but an extension in that detention requires approval from a judicial review board.
"The government is ordered to release JuD chief Hafiz Saeed if he is not wanted in any other case," PTI quoted.
Saeed’s counsel Advocate A K Dogar said, “The JuD chief was illegally detained for 297 days. Hafiz Saeed always worked for Pakistan and the government could not prove any allegation against him.”
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