PHC stays execution of five more convicted by military courts

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday stayed execution of another five alleged terrorists who had been awarded death sentence by military courts for attacking security forces that had resulted in the killings of civilians and security forces personnel.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan suspended the death sentence of alleged terrorists. They included Fazal Ali, Muhammad Wali, Tera Gul, Khial Jan and Payu Jan. They were stated to be active members of Lashkar-e-Islam, a banned militant organisation.

The bench issued a notice to the federal government to submit record of the case before the next hearing. The court suspended the death sentences in a review petitions filed by the convicts’ relatives through their lawyer Khalid Anwar and Barrister Mian Tajjamul.

As per the Inter-Services Public Relations, the chief of army staff confirmed death sentence of 10 terrorists, including the four convicted by the military courts for offences relating to attacks on security forces, killings of civilians and security forces personnel and destruction of educational institutions.

According to the ISPR statement, the terrorists were involved in heinous offences related to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, slaughtering of Captain Junaid Khan, Captain Najam Riaz Raja, Naik Shahid Rasool and Lance Naik Shakeel Ahmed of the Special Services Group. The statement said all the convicted terrorists were active members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Islam and were involved in creating unrest in the country through various subverting activities.

About the convict Fazal Ali, the ISPR stated, he was active member of the
TTP. He was involved in attacking law-enforcement agencies and the armed
forces, which resulted in the deaths of Havaldar Munir Ahmed and Sepoy Sajid Khan and injuries to several soldiers. He was also found in possession of firearms and explosives.

About Tera Gul and Muhammad Wali, it said, they were active members of Lashkar-e-Islam. They were involved in attacking law-enforcement agencies and the armed forces, which resulted in the deaths of Havaldar Noor Mast, Naik Farman Ali, Naik Shabbir Akhtar, Sepoy Humayun, Sepoy Fakhar Alam, Sepoy Ismail and injuries to many other soldiers.

It said that Khial Jan was an active member of Lashkar-e-Islam. He was involved in attacking law-enforcement agencies, which resulted in the deaths of a civilian Abdullah, Khyber Khassadar soldier Sameed Khan and injuries to several other soldiers.

Payo Jan, it said, was an active member of Lashkar-e-Islam and involved in attacks on the armed forces, resulting in the death of Sepoy Qasim Raza. However, counsel for Fazal Ali submitted that he was a student and elders of a local jirga had handed him over to security forces in 2009. He was then shifted to an internment centre where relatives had met him. Now the family members came to know that he has been awarded death sentence by a military court. 

Similarly, counsel for other four convicts, Tera Gul, Muhammad Wali, Khial Jan and Payu Jan, argued that the family members claimed that they were picked by the security forces on January this year from different areas in Khyber Agency.

He said the family members later came to know through the media reports that they had been awarded death sentence by a military court and the army chief had confirmed the sentence on November 23.