Two London-based men accused of inciting terrorist attacks in Pakistan were acting in self-defence, a court heard yesterday. Faiz Baluch, 27, from Wembley, north London, and Herbiyar Marri, 40, from Ealing, west London, have both pleaded not guilty to assisting terrorism and incitement to murder abroad. Defending Baluch, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC told Woolwich crown court he was a “casualty of geopolitics” and the US-led war on terror. It is alleged that the two men encouraged acts of violence against Pakistan via website Baloch Warna (Baluch Youth). “This case is not about jihad or al-Qaeda or Osama bin Laden,” said Kennedy. “These men abhor the distortion of Islam by Osama bin Laden.” She said the people of Baluchistan were “suffering a slow death” at the hands of the Pakistan government. Their land had been used for nuclear weapons tests in 1998, which had caused cancer and leukaemia. Those who protested against the behaviour of the Pakistani authorities, she said, faced prison, torture and death. “This case is about classic self-defence, not regime change.” If the case was not so serious, she said, “it would be laughable.”
