Scotland Yard confirms receiving speech of 'MQM individual'

LONDON: Britain’s Scotland Yard on Tuesday said that it has received full speech of an individual linked with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the founder of whom delivered an anti-Pakistan speech on August 22, sparking outrage in Pakistan.

Scotland Yard spokesman said, "We have received 22nd August full speech of an individual linked with the MQM political party.”

He said that the speech is currently getting translated and after the process, it would be decided whether it should be investigated or not to determine if any laws have been broken.

” Pakistan has been in touch with us. There is a process involved and we are doing that,” he said.

The spokesman said that he cannot confirm whether any reference has been received from Pakistan or not.

Geo News understands that Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar has sent reference to the Home Office, the Home Secretary Amber Rudd will pass it to the Scotland Yard chief.

 Legal experts in the United Kingdom said that if the crown prosecution service decides to charge the MQM founder, it could be under three different legal provisions.

There is a clause in the Terrorism Act 2006 in British law called the “Commission of Offences Abroad” and under this the minimum sentence is seven years, they said.

The clause states that a person has committed the offence of incitement of violence: “If— (a) a person does anything outside the United Kingdom, and (b) his action, if done in a part of the United Kingdom, would constitute an offence falling within subsection (2), he shall be guilty in that part of the United Kingdom of the offence. (2) The offences falling within this subsection are— (a) an offence under section 1 or 6 of this Act so far as it is committed in relation to any statement, instruction or training in relation to which that section has effect by reason of its relevance to the commission, preparation or instigation of one or more Convention offences".

The second legal provision, the Incitement to Violence Bill 2005, carries a sentence of two years imprisonment.

"Section 4 of the Public Order Act 1986 (POA) makes it an offence for a person to use threatening abusive or insulting words or behaviour that causes or is likely to cause another person harassment alarm or distress", it states.

Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 makes it an offence to send a message by means of a public and electronic communications which is grossly offensive, or of an indecent or obscene or menacing character.