Pakistan arrests top leader of radical party on charge of ordering the killing of the chief justice
Officials say Pakistan’s police have arrested the deputy chief at a radical Islamist party on charges of ordering the killing of the chief justice over his alleged support to the minority Ahmadi community
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's police on Monday arrested the deputy chief at a radical Islamist party on the charge of ordering the killing of the chief justice over his alleged support to the minority Ahmadi community, officials said.
Zaheerul Hassan Shah was arrested a day after a video went viral on social media, showing him telling a gathering of his supporters from the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan that he would personally give 10 million rupees ($36,000) to anyone who beheads Qazi Faez Esa, the Chief Justice at the Supreme Court.
Esa has been the target of criticism by extremists in Pakistan in recent months after he granted bail to an Ahmadi blasphemy suspect.
Pakistan’s Parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. Since then, they have been repeatedly targeted by Islamic extremists, drawing condemnation from domestic and international human right groups.
