Names of civilians tried under Army Act during Imran’s tenure

ISLAMABAD: Most of the civilians tried and convicted under the Army Act during Imran Khan’s tenure as prime minister, were neither arrested by the police nor handed over to the military authorities following the judiciary’s order as is now done for the May 9 accused.

“They were abducted,” Col (retd) Inamur Raheem, a senior lawyer known for fighting the cases of missing persons, said, adding, “Even members of their family were not informed about their arrest or whereabouts.” The ISPR was approached last week by The News for the provision of a list of civilians tried and convicted under the Army Act and Official Secrets Act in the past 10 or 20 years. The military spokesman did not provide the required information even after a few days.

Col (R) Inamur Raheem provided to this correspondent the list of 25 civilians, including four retired army men, who were tried and convicted by the military courts. He said that he had challenged in the LHC the conviction by military courts of all the following 25 civilians.

The list include 1) Syed Adil Hussain Shah, convicted in 2019 and given death sentence; 2) Muhammad Hussain, convicted in Sept 2020 and given death sentence; 3) Ahmed Nawaz, convicted in March 2020 and given death sentence; 4) Muhmmad Imtiaz Khan, convicted and jailed for 20-year imprisonment; 5) Habib Qadir, convicted in 2019 and given rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 10 years; 6) Ajmal Khan, convicted in 2021 and jailed to eight years RI; 7) Muhammad Saddiqe, convicted in June 2018 and given 11 years RI; 8) Raja Mushtaq Ahmed, convicted in June 2020 and given 10 years RI; 9) Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, convicted in July 2018 and sentenced for 10 years RI; 10) Abid Zaheer, convicted in June 2018 and given jail for 12 years; 11) Muhmmad Usman Akram Kiyani, convicted in July 2021 and given 10 years RI; 12) Havildar (R) Muhmmad Haider, convicted in Aug 2018 and jailed for 13 years; 13) Ashfaq Masih, convicted in Oct 2018 and sentenced to eight-year RI; 14) Asif Mehmood Shahid, convicted in Feb 2018 and given 10 years jail; 15) Muhmmad Nazim, Advocate, convicted in Aug 2018 and sentenced to 10-year RI; 16) Muhammad Amir Khan, convicted in July 2019 and jailed for 11-year RI; 17) Imtiaz Ahmed, convicted in November 2018 and sentenced to eight-year RI; 18) Mushtaq Ahmed, convicted in Feb 2019 and sentenced 14-year RI; 19) Muhammad Akbar, convicted in Feb 2019 and given 14-year RI; 20) Khizer Ahmed, convicted in March 2022 and jailed for six years; 21) Dr Shahzad Asghar, convicted in Sept 2019 and given 10-year jail; 22) Idrees Khattak, convicted in Nov 2021 and sentenced to 14-year RI; 23) Lt Col (R) Akmal Ashraf, convicted in Oct 2021 and jailed for 11 years; 24) Lt Col (R) Faiz Rasool, convicted in Dec 2021 and jailed for 13 years, and; 25) Maj (R) Saifullah Babar, convicted in Sept 2022 and jailed for 12 years.

According to Col (R) Inamur Raheem, all the above convicts have challenged their convictions in the Lahore High Court, which has suspended the death sentence of three convicts while their cases are still pending before the LHC.

The retired colonel said that all these 25 persons were missing persons and were tried by Field Court Martial in violation of articles 4, 9, 10 and 10A of the Constitution.