United Kingdom's Kingston Crown Court found the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain not guilty of encouraging terrorism in Karachi from London contrary to section 1(2) of the Terrorism Act 2006.

According to media reports, 10 out of 12 jurors at the court declared before Mrs Justice May that they had found Hussain not to be in violation of the UK’s anti-Terrorism laws.

Hussain had been charged with two counts of encouraging terrorism contrary to section 1(2) of the Terrorism Act 2006 after he made two speeches from London to his followers in Karachi on Aug 22, 2016.

He was arrested and released on bail before charges were filed in 2019 after Scotland Yard launched an investigation into speeches that allegedly encouraged violence in Karachi.

The charge as stated by the court was that Hussain have published two speeches to crowds “gathered in Karachi, Pakistan on 22nd August, first in the morning UK Time and second in the afternoon UK Time.

The charge further stated that the contents of speeches were "likely to be understood by some or all of the members of the public to whom they were published as a direct or indirect encouragement to them to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and, at the time he published them, intended them to be so encouraged, or was reckless as to whether they would be so encouraged”.