By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister said on Friday that 33 supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan had been handed over to military courts to face trial on charges of attacking military installations.
The violent protests broke out on May 9 after Khan was arrested in a land fraud case. Protesters stormed military installations, including the house of a top general in Lahore, which was set ablaze.
While Khan was subsequently released on bail on numerous charges, including graft, thousands of his supporters have been arrested since.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the suspects would be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act.
“The accused who are being handed over to the military are those who trespassed and entered very sensitive defence installations,” Sanaullah told a press conference in Islamabad.
“Only 19 [protesters] from Punjab and 14 from KP have been handed to military authorities.”
The minister said evidence suggested the protesters damaged or stole important equipment, computers and other sources of data collection.
Sanaullah said only those involved in breaching out-of-bounds areas would face trial under army laws.
The minister said a total of 499 first information reports have been registered against violent protesters, out of which only six, two from Punjab and four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are being processed, “and these cases will likely face a trial in a military court”.
“No innocent person would be punished and the identities of those handed to the military will be verified using three or four methods.”
“This is not the prime minister’s prerogative or the discretion of the army chief, this is the obligation of the state. If someone has entered prohibited areas, only the Army Act can be used to try them, it’s not a choice, it’s an obligation,” the interior minister said.
The Pakistan Army Act of 1952 established military courts primarily to try members of the military or enemies of the state. Civilians accused of offenses such as waging war against the armed forces or law enforcement agencies, or attacking military installations or inciting mutiny, can be tried by military courts under a federal government order.
Military courts operate under a separate system from the civilian legal system and are run by military officers. The judges are also military personnel and cases are tried at military installations. Trials are closed to outsiders, and no media presence is allowed.
The courts have faced widespread criticism from within Pakistan and rights organizations globally because of their secretive nature and their existence alongside a functioning civilian legal system.
The minister said after a verdict from the military courts the accused would have a right to appeal to a high court and then the Supreme Court.
In response to a question, Sanaullah said that Khan could also be tried in a military court.
“… as far as my own assessment and the evidence we have… this man is the architect of all this mess and planning, so yes he comes under this category.”
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