A court in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Monday sentenced prominent Baloch rights activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch and a fellow activist to life imprisonment after convicting them of inciting a mob that killed a paramilitary soldier during a protest in Gwadar in 2024.
Verdict Details
The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) verdict by special judge Muhammad Ali Mobeen declared Baloch and Sibghatullah, a member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), guilty under sections 302 (b), 147 and 148 of the Pakistan Penal Code for participation in an unlawful assembly and instigating the mob that killed Frontier Corps (FC) Sepoy Shabir Ahmed in Gwadar.
“The accused persons Dr. Mahrang Baloch d/o Abdul Ghaffar and Sibghatullah s/o Abdul Haq were active participants of the unlawful assembly of Baloch Yakjehti Committee and shared common objective of committing the murder of deceased FC official Shabir Ahmed s/o Muhammad Usman,” the verdict read. “I hold both the accused guilty of murdering Shabir Ahmed under section 302 (b) read with 147 and 148 of Pakistan Penal Code, each of them is sentenced to imprisonment for life.”
Background of the Case
Baloch, 33, who heads the BYC rights group, was placed under administrative detention by the Balochistan provincial government on March 22, 2025, accused of terrorism, sedition, and murder after leading a protest. Following her detention, the United Nations (UN) had expressed concern for the trainee surgeon, who was named by Time Magazine and the British Broadcasting Corporation as one of the 100 rising leaders and 100 most inspiring women in 2024, respectively.
The BYC, which advocates for the rights of the ethnic Baloch people, held a civil rights demonstration in Gwadar in late July 2024 to protest enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and exploitation of natural resources in Balochistan. The two-week-long demonstration saw clashes that resulted in the deaths of three people, including Sepoy Ahmed.
Court Proceedings and Reaction
In Monday’s verdict, the court also ordered both convicts to pay Rs200,000 ($719) each as compensation to the deceased’s family. According to the judgment, Baloch addressed the gathering in Gwadar and delivered a provocative speech on July 29, 2024, urging participants to attack an FC vehicle near the demonstration. The accused persons, Baloch and Sibghatullah, were afforded repeated opportunities to participate in the trial but they deliberately boycotted the proceedings and refused to join the trial.
Nadia Baloch, Baloch’s sister and a member of her legal team, said they would appeal the verdict in superior courts. “Dr. Mahrang’s case was shifted from an open court to a jail trial, then, from the jail, it was shifted to a faceless trial,” Nadia told Arab News. “We do not know where the judge is sitting and running the case from, we do not know where the prosecutor is running it from, we do not know who the witnesses are and who is giving testimony. Our entire legal team has also refused to accept this decision and if you are to give us a trial, then grant us a fair trial.”
Broader Context
Balochistan has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent years, with separatist militants frequently attacking security forces, government officials and interests as well as residents and people from other provinces. The separatists often accuse the central government of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and stealing the region’s resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. Pakistani authorities deny the allegations and say they are working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan.
