Pakistan opposition leader freed

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Pakistani opposition leader Javed Hashmi has been released from prison, a day after the Supreme Court ordered his release on bail.

Mr Hashmi was greeted by hundreds of supporters as he walked free from the jail in Lahore.

The former acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) was sentenced to 23 years in 2004 for crimes including inciting mutiny.

Mr Hashmi told the BBC his imprisonment had not changed his political beliefs.

"There's no basic change in my views," he told the BBC's Urdu service.

"I believe in the same things; I think supremacy of the parliament and democratic process is the only answer in this country."

Mr Hashmi's release comes more than a week after the Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who had been suspended by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Analysts say the recent moves indicate a growing independence of Pakistan's judiciary.

'Sentence served'

Mr Hashmi was arrested in 2003 over a letter critical of Gen Musharraf.

He was effectively serving at most seven years in jail as he was handed seven different prison terms running concurrently.

Chief Justice Chaudhry said: "If periodic remissions are counted, he has already served his entire sentence."

The Supreme Court agreed to grant him bail while it considers Mr Hasmi's application for a review of the case. He says the charges against him were politically motivated.

Mr Hashmi is the leader of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, a body campaigning for the return of civilian rule after Gen Musharraf's seizure of power in 1999.

His PML-N faction is still loyal to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted in the coup.