Awami Workers’ Party (AWP) general secretary Farooq Tariq has appealed for international support for 12 activists jailed for “terrorism” for helping climate change victims.
In a September 25 letter to “solidarity networks” around the world, Tariq said Baba Jan, an activist in Gilgit, and 11 others had been sentenced to life in jail by a Gilgit “anti-terrorism” court. Jan is a vice-president of the AWP. The activists were arrested over their role in protests in favour of the rights of flood victims in 2011.
In an October 9 International Viewpoint article, Tariq said hundreds of people gathered in the Hunza Valley to discuss the campaign to release the 12 activists. He said: “Various political parties and Left groups in Pakistan and outside have protested against these sentences. Several demonstrations have taken place in Pakistan and Kashmir.”
For full information on the Baba Jan case see ESSF.