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ISLAMABAD: The family of a detained Pakistani Baloch rights activists, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, filed a petition in Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking to overturn a provincial court ruling that upheld her arrest under public order laws, according to a local media report.

Baloch, a physician and a civil society activists, has been held at Quetta’s Hudda District Jail since March 22 after she participated in protests following a separatist militant attack on a passenger train in Balochistan.

She was arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law, a move her supporters described as part of a broader crackdown on nonviolent dissent in the restive province.

The petition, filed by her sister, argues that the detention is arbitrary and aimed at silencing peaceful activism.

“Nadia Bal­och, the sister of Dr. Mah­­rang Baloch, urged the Supreme Court on Wed­­nesday to set aside the April 15 order of the Balo­ch­istan High Court that rej­ected the plea against her detention under the Main­tenance of Public Order,” the English-language newspaper Dawn quoted from the petition.

The detained activist, who leads the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, also published a letter from prison in the US-based Time magazine this week, in which she asserted that “speaking up for justice is not a crime.”
Pakistani authorities have accused Baloch of promoting the narrative of separatist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) in public. However, her letter in the American magazine maintained the officials had not provided any evidence of her links with BLA or any other militant group while criticizing the authorities for blurring the line between militancy and peaceful protest.

Earlier this year, the Balochistan High Court dismissed Baloch’s initial challenge to her detention, advising her to seek administrative remedies instead of judicial relief.

Her sister’s petition has now asked the apex court to suspend that ruling and review whether constitutional protections such as habeas corpus were ignored in the previous judicial decision.
The Supreme Court has yet to announce when it will take up the case for hearing.
 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for a daylong official visit to the United Arab Emirates at the invitation of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Pakistani government said.

Sharif was received at Al Bateen Airport by the UAE president’s brother and national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who accompanied him to the presidential palace.

UAE’s Secretary General of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Ahmed Al Shamsi, Pakistan’s Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi and senior embassy officials were also present at the airport.

“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in Abu Dhabi on a one-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates on the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

The Pakistani delegation includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi.

The trip comes amid Pakistan’s broader efforts to strengthen strategic and economic ties with Gulf countries, particularly the UAE, which is its third-largest trading partner and a key source of investment and financial support.

The UAE has played a critical role in helping Pakistan navigate recent economic challenges, including through direct deposits into Pakistan’s central bank that supported an International Monetary Fund bailout.

According to a statement from Pakistan’s foreign office a day earlier, the prime minister is expected to follow up on more than $3 billion in cooperation agreements signed during his previous visit in January 2024, covering infrastructure, energy and investment.

Sharif and the UAE presidents are also expected to discuss regional security developments. Last month, the two leaders held a phone call during which Islamabad praised the UAE’s diplomatic role in de-escalating tensions between Pakistan and India after a military flare-up.