A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba armed group, to five and a half years’ prison in a case related to terrorism financing, his lawyer says. Saeed was convicted and sentenced on two counts by a court in the eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday, Imran Gill, the lawyer revealed. He was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for being a member of a “proscribed organisation” under Pakistani law, and another five years for a charge related to “illegal property”, Gill said. Notably, he was charged with multiple offences of terror financing and money laundering in a First Information Report filed by the Counter Terrorism Department of Pakistan’s Punjab Police. In 2017, Hafiz Saeed and his four aides were detained by the Pakistan government under terror laws. But they were released after nearly 11 months when the Judicial Review Board of Punjab refused to extend their confinement further. The action came two days before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris that will decide on Pakistan’s blacklisting or greylisting. Interestingly, people are now waiting famous Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi to react on the latest development as Abbasi took to Twitter to share a picture of Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jamaat-ud-Da’wat with caption that received flak from many of the star’s followers in 2017. “One of the nicest, most polite people I have met who promotes religious tolerance & humanity,” wrote the avid PTI supporter. “He is also, unfortunately, the most misunderstood man in Pakistan right now,” wrote Abbasi. Later, he openly expressed support for a man who is among the most controversial personalities in the books of US, Pakistan and India. #NA120 US/IND say he is a terrorist, i know Hafiz Saeed as a righteous man. Huge respect for Milli Muslim League for getting 4k+ votes. — Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) September 17, 2017 Hafiz Saeed has done gr8 work against Takfeer & Sectarianism, social work for non Muslims of Pak & is a mentor to Kashmiris. https://t.co/ozduEN2Wmv — Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) September 17, 2017