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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani lawyer says a judge has ordered that the father of an exiled activist face trial for supporting a minority rights movement, following his arrest the previous day.
Lawyer Fazal Khan says his client, Mohammad Ismail, was brought before the judge on Friday amid tight security. The judge ordered Ismail held for two weeks, pending trial for sharing content in support of a Pashtun group that has criticized the Pakistani army's war on terror.
The U.S. State Department has expressed serious concern over Ismail's detention.
His daughter Gulalai Ismail tweeted on Thursday that Ismail was arrested in the northwestern city of Peshawar in an effort to silence her.
She had recently fled the country to avoid harassment by security agencies, then surfaced last month in the U.S. seeking asylum.
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