LONDON -- British police have charged a Pakistani political exile with encouraging terrorism, Scotland Yard announced Thursday (October 10), after a speech he made in 2016 to supporters in Karachi was followed by violent protests.
Altaf Hussain, the former leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a party that once ruled Karachi, faces up to seven years' imprisonment for the speech. It was "likely to be understood" as encouraging supporters to acts of terrorism or was "reckless" of the possible consequences, said police.
He is expected to appear in court in London Thursday.
Hussain, 66, has lived in London for more than two decades and often addressed supporters in Pakistan through a loudspeaker linked to his home telephone.
