RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday handed over to military authorities eight people accused of attacking the General Headquarters (GHQ) on May 9 for trial under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 and the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
On the request of Commanding Officers Yasir Nawaz Cheema and Farhan Nazir Qureshi, Rawalpindi ATC-1 Judge Hamid Hussain handed over the accused to the army.
Muhammad Idrees, son of Muhammad Shafi, Umar Farooq, son of Muhammad Sabir, Raja M Ahsan, son of Muhammad Maqsood, and Muhammad Abdullah, son of Kanwar Ashraf Khan, are among those handed over to Commanding Officer Cheema for military court trials.
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In a first information report (FIR) filed at Rawalpindi’s RA Bazar Police Station, the accused were charged under sections 3, 7, and 9 of the Official Secrets Act of 1923, as well as section 2 (1) (d) of the Pakistan Army Act of 1952.
Ali Hassan, son of Khalilur Rehman, Lal Shah, son of Jahanzaib, Sheheryar Zulfiqar, son of Zulfiqar Ahmed, and Farhad Khan, son of Shahid Khan are among those handed over to Commanding Officer Qureshi.
These individuals were charged with the same offences in a first information report (FIR) filed at Rawalpindi’s Civil Lines Police Station, which “are exclusively triable” by military courts.
According to the court’s short order, the deputy prosecutor general (DPG) did not object to the requests and forwarded them to the court for appropriate orders.
“As a result, while accepting the request of the commanding officer[s] under section 549(3) of the CrPC [Code of Criminal Procedure] read with Rule 7(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Military Offenders) Rules. 1970, Superintendent Jail Adiala is directed to hand over custody of the… accused to the [officers],” it said.
After paramilitary rangers arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court premises on May 9, violent protests erupted across the country.
During these protests, alleged PTI supporters vandalised and set fire to dozens of state and military installations and memorials, as well as attacking Gate No 1 of the GHQ in Rawalpindi and the Corps Commander’s residence in Lahore.
While launching a massive crackdown on the rioters, Pakistan’s civil and military leaders endorsed a decision made a day earlier during a meeting of corps commanders to invoke the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 and the Official Secrets Act, 1923 against those involved in the attack on May 17.
Rawalpindi Police arrested 532 people in the garrison city as part of the crackdown, 374 of whom were charged under various sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The authorities have also forwarded the names of over 200 people to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in order to restrict their travel.
