Pakistani court orders release of main suspect in 2008 Mumbai attacks News
Pakistani court orders release of main suspect in 2008 Mumbai attacks

[JURIST] A Pakistan court on Thursday ordered the release of the main suspect in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. The order came less than a month after Pakistan authorities reordered his detention [JURIST report]. The court suspended [The Hindu report] his detention under the Maintenance of Public Order [text] because the evidence provided by the government was deemed “unsatisfactory” by the court. Lakhvi was ordered to pay two surety bonds valued at 1 million rupees each (roughly USD $16,000), prior to his release.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned [JURIST report] Lakhvi’s release in January. Lakhvi was granted bail in early December, but the government immediately imposed a three-month detention order to keep him in prison. However, Lakhvi appealed this order and was released in late December. Hours after his release, Lakhvi was in police custody [JURIST report] again for an alleged kidnapping. The latest detention of Lakhvi comes after his January 12 hearing. In 2012, India executed the sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab [WSJ backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. In August 2009 India sentenced three terrorists to death for their part in similar attacks in 2003 [JURIST report].

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