PHC upholds death sentence of six terror convicts

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of six terrorists who were convicted by the military courts.  

A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Syed Afsar Shah dismissed the six appeals filed against the death sentences.The bench upheld the death sentences after hearing the arguments and going through the record of the military courts.

However, the court observed that the relatives of the convicts had visitation rights.The court conducted in-camera proceedings.Additional Attorney General of Pakistan Muhammad Attique Shah appeared on behalf of the federal government and Ministry of Defence and produced record in the court.

The family members of a convict, Fazle Ghaffar, claimed in the appeal that they didn’t know on what charges he was awarded death sentence.The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, on March 15 made public the death sentence of Fazle Ghaffar. “The convict was an active member of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and was involved in assaulting armed forces. A suicide jacket was also recovered from his possession. He was tried on four charges and admitted his offences before the court,” the ISPR statement said. The relatives of another convict, Mushtaq Ahmad, submitted in the appeal that he was picked up by the security forces on December 20, 2011 and since then he was untraceable.

It said the family came to know through the media that Mushtaq Ahmad had been awarded death sentence by a military court.However, the ISPR stated that, “Mushtaq Ahmad was an active member of the TTP and was involved in attacking the Saidu Sharif Airport, killing employees of the Meteorological Department and destruction of an educational institution, which resulted in death of civilians and injuries to soldiers. He was tried on six charges.”

The parents of the third convict, Taj Gul, hailing from Swat stated in the appeal that the local elders had handed him over to the security forces in 2011. The family of Taj Gul also came to know about his conviction by a military court through the media on March 16.  His father Sultan Zareen claimed in the petition that his son was not involved in terrorism. He said the sentence was unlawful and prayed the court to declare it void.

On the other hand, the ISPR claimed in an earlier statement that Taj Gul was involved in attacks on the law-enforcing agencies that resulted in the death of police constables and Levies personnel. It also claimed that arms and explosives were recovered from his possession. “He confessed to his crimes before the magistrate and was awarded death sentence,” the ISPR stated.

The family members of another convict Ikramullah, son of Habibullah claimed in the appeal that he was innocent and was not given a chance to defend himself.However, the ISPR claimed that Ikramullah was involved in attacking the armed forces and damaging army helicopters. It said he was also found to be carrying explosives.

The ISPR said he was tried on four charges and confessed to his crimes before the court.Ameer Zareen, the father of a convict, Bakht Ameer, had also filed the appeal claiming that his son was innocent and he was not given a chance to defend himself.  

The ISPR claimed that Bakht Ameer was tried on three charges and was involved in attacking the army personnel. It said he confessed to his crimes before the court and was awarded death sentence.

The mother of a convict, Fateh Khan, belonging to Khyber Agency, claimed that her son was picked up by the security forces on November 20, 2014 from Sarband in Peshawar.

She submitted that Fateh Khan had been missing, but she received a notice from the Kohat Prison on March 29 to meet her son as he would be hanged on March 30 after being sentenced to death by military court on terrorism charges.