Military court has convicted former air marshal, IHC told

ISLAMABAD: The Judge Advocate General (JAG) Branch of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that a military court has convicted former air marshal Jawad Saeed in a case of sedition and espionage.

The then air marshal was in charge of Operation Swift Retort, the six air strikes carried out by Pakistan after India’s Balakot attack. Now he is being investigated for sharing and leaking sensitive information related to the operation.

The IHC’s Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro heard a review petition filed by Shazia Jawad, wife of Air Marshal (retd) Saeed, claiming unlawful detention of her husband.

JAG Air Commodore Nafees Cheema informed the court that Air Marshal (retd) Saeed was given the charge sheet on February 21, 2024, and the trial was completed in two days.

The military court sentenced him to 14 years in prison on charges of sedition and espionage, his sentence was reduced to four years on his appeal. The JAG said that this was a sensitive matter, so the air chief decided not to allow a lawyer from outside the force.

Colonel (retd) Inamur Rahim Advocate appeared in court on behalf of Shazia and said that the former air marshal was not allowed to have a lawyer of his choice.

He said the petitioner’s husband could have been taken into custody only by a magistrate after registering an FIR. The detainee was not being sent to jail by declaring it a sensitive matter, but the E-9 Mess has been declared a sub-jail, he added.

He also said the detainee was not allowed to meet his wife and children on Eid, and he was not even allowed to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law. On the court’s order, a meeting was arranged with his wife, but intelligence officers were present in it too, he added.

The court said the PAF authorities have admitted that the former air marshal has been court-martialled, and is in their custody, so now it is no longer a case of wrongful detention, adding that the petitioner can challenge the court-martial proceedings separately. The petitioner withdrew the review petition in the wrongful detention case.

Operation Swift Retort was carried out on February 27, 2019, after the Pulwama attack. The aim of this operation was to respond to the Indian Air Force attack on the Pakistani territory of Balakot.