“Faceless courts”, rushed trials: Pakistan slammed for using “hollowed-out judiciary” to silence Baloch leaders

Quetta [Balochistan], June 15 (ANI): Baloch rights activist Sammi Deen Baloch has strongly criticised the Government of Balochistan and Pakistan's judicial process, alleging that authorities are seeking the swift conviction of detained Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders through what she described as opaque and politically motivated legal proceedings.
In a post on X, Sammi Deen Baloch claimed that the provincial government, "through a hollowed-out judiciary," wants BYC leader Mahrang Baloch and other activists convicted as quickly as possible. She alleged that the BYC leadership has remained imprisoned for more than 450 days on charges that have yet to be proven in court.
According to Sammi, officials and sections of the mainstream media have repeatedly presented the allegations against BYC leaders as established facts despite the absence of convictions. She further alleged that, after months of delays, state prosecutors are now pushing for daily hearings under what she called the guise of "faceless courts."
She argued that delays in the legal process had previously served those in power by allowing the activists to remain behind bars without accountability, while the current push for speed appears aimed at securing convictions away from public scrutiny.
"Speed serves them when convictions are to be delivered in the dark without any evidence," she wrote.
The activist also accused authorities of avoiding open judicial examination of their claims against the BYC. She stated that the same institutions that spent more than a year portraying the organisation as a national security threat are unwilling to test those allegations in a transparent court setting.
Sammi further alleged that authorities want the international community to accept the accusations while preventing public access to evidence, proceedings, and the basis of any potential punishment.
Describing the situation as part of a broader effort to silence dissent, she said that "baseless propaganda, endless FIRs, faceless courts, and sudden judicial urgency" were being used to erase the voice of the Baloch people.
She warned that any conviction resulting from what she termed hidden, rushed, and politically driven proceedings would not be remembered as justice but as an attempt to suppress those who gave public expression to Baloch grief, resistance, and survival. (ANI)