By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore on Thursday handed over 16 civilians to the military for trial under the Army Act for their suspected involvement in violent protests following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this month.
The accused include former Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Mian Akram Usman, Ammar Zohaib, Ali Iftikhar, Ali Raza, Muhammad Arsalan, Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Rahim, Ziaul Rehman, Waqas Ali, Rais Ahmed, Faisal Arshad, Muhammad Bilal, Fahim Haider, Arzam Junaid, Muhammad Hasher Khan, and Hasan Shakir.
The court issued the order in response to an application filed by a military officer, Irfan Akhtar, who sought custody of the suspects currently detained in Camp Jail, Lahore.
“Based on initial investigations, the accused individuals are prima facie found to be involved in the commission of offenses under sections 3, 7, and 9 of the Official Secrets Act of 1923, read with Section 2(1)(d) and 59(4) of the Pakistan Army Act of 1952, which fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the military court,” the military application said.
It said the accused “had subjected themselves to the jurisdiction of the Pakistan Army Act of 1952, making them exclusively liable to be investigated and tried by the military court by committing offenses under the aforementioned laws”.
The prosecution raised no objections to the application and forwarded the request for appropriate orders.
“In light of the commanding officer’s request, duly forwarded by the prosecution, for the exclusive military court trial of the accused persons, the superintendent of Camp Jail, Lahore, is instructed to hand over the custody of the accused to the commanding officer for further proceedings in accordance with the law,” the court said.
The violent protests erupted after Khan was arrested on May 9 on a land corruption case. Khan’s supporters stormed military installations, including the house of a top general in Lahore, which was set ablaze. Thousands of people, mostly supporters of the former premier, have been rounded up since.
The military said after the violence that the suspects would be tried in military courts, used primarily to try enemies of the state.
One of the 16 suspects is a member of Khan’s political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and had been chosen to run in the next provincial elections.
Military courts operate under a separate system from the civilian legal system. Trials are closed to outsiders, and no media is allowed. Rights groups have criticised the secretive nature of the process.
Meanwhile, Khan on Thursday challenged the way his supporters are being treated over riots, urging the Supreme Court to declare the arrests, investigation, and trial of civilians in peacetime under the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act as the negation of the Constitution.
In a petition moved through senior counsel Hamid Khan, the PTI chief also urged the SC to order the formation of a judicial commission consisting of its judges to probe the horrendous and terrible incidents of May 9 and 10.
The commission should fix responsibility, besides recommending actions against persons involved in the unfortunate incidents that caused loss of dozens of lives and damage to state and private properties thus defaming Pakistan internationally.
Khan contended that the alleged imposition of an “undeclared” martial law or calling in aid of the armed forces in Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad was unconstitutional, unlawful and without any effect and all actions taken under the same were void.
The petition has named as respondents the ministries of defence and interior, cabinet, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Asif Zardari, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MQM convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab Mohsin Naqvi, KP’s caretaker CM Azam Khan, IGP Punjab and Islamabad, KP and commandant, Frontier Constabulary.
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