Specialist Crime and Operations officers had opened an inquiry in May last year — soon after the 11th May general elections — after thousands of people had written to the Metropolitan Police complaining that the MQM leader had threatened protesters in Karachi who had gathered at the Teen Talwar venue in Karachi and also another of Hussain’s speeches in which it was alleged that Altaf Hussain had issued open threats and incited violence against the democratic protesters.
But the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has told the police that there was no sufficient evidence against Altaf Hussain to prosecute him, therefore, the case shall not be pursued any further. The News understands that a letter has been sent to the MQM informing the party that the investigation had been dropped.
When contacted by The News, the Scotland Yard confirmed that Altaf Hussain’s speeches of the time “do not constitute a criminal offence” and “consequently there will be no further action taken by police.”
Without naming Altaf Hussain, the spokesman said that in May, 2013, the Metropolitan Police Service received “a large number of complaints, totalling several thousand, following speeches from an individual associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).”
He added: “Specialist Crime and Operations officers carried out extensive searches to locate and gather, what was a substantial amount of material, all of which required translation.“After careful examination and in close consultation with the CPS, the Met has concluded that though the comments may offend some members of the community, they do not constitute a criminal offence. Consequently, there will be no further action taken by police.”
The spokesman added that the police take all allegations of crime seriously, responding to the concerns raised and will take action where appropriate. He confirmed that the “hate speech inquiry” was “in no way linked to the investigation into money laundering offences which was widely reported, following an arrest being made, earlier this month”.
The decision by the police will come as a relief to the MQM leader who is currently on police bail in relation to the money-laundering investigation.The News has learnt that the police used different Urdu language interpreters and language experts to look into the words of Altaf Hussain and then took advice from criminal law experts who told the police that if the matter reaches the court, Altaf Hussain’s lawyers could interpret his speech in totally different meaning and context than the one suggested by the prosecution. The CPS advised that in front of a jury, the chances of this case succeeding were very poor. The CPS advised the police not to bother with this investigation anymore.
The MQM had contested that its leader didn’t threaten protesters belonging to Imran Khan’s party, the PTI. Farooq Sattar had sent a letter to the police stating that Altaf Hussain was not “responsible for the murder of Ms Zahra Shahid Hussain” as alleged by Imran Khan.
Sattar explained in the letter that Altaf Hussain had not threatened anyone and translated Altaf Hussain’s Urdu words “may laraee jhegra nahee chahta werna tau may apnay satheeon ko kehoon tau wo teen talwar phohonch ker talwaroon ko asel shakel day dain gey” in English as “I do not want to quarrel or fight with anyone otherwise I would only have to order my associates that they reach Teen Talwar (Three swords monument in Clifton) and make them real”.
Sattar explained in the letter: “The above quoted words of Mr Hussain very clearly indicate his intentions that he doesn’t want to fight anyone and the phraseology that swords of monument could be converted into real swords would have carried any real meaning and threat only if Mr Hussain had failed to clarify that he doesn’t believe in physical fight.”
