ATC orders transfer of Sufi’s cases to court in Swat

PESHAWAR: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) here Saturday ordered the transfer of the remaining two cases of Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the chief of Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM), to a local court in Swat.
Another case pertaining to the attack on Swat’s Kabal Police Station was transferred to a local court in Swat recently. The elderly TNSM founder has already been acquitted in 10 out of the 13 cases filed against him.
The judge of the ATC camp court, Abdul Rauf, heard the cases of the TNSM chief inside the Peshawar Central Prison.
The lawyers for Maulana Sufi Mohammad submitted an application to the court under Section-23 of the ATC to transfer the cases to the local courts in Swat. The lawyer also demanded the court to remove terrorism charges against the TNSM chief which are levelled only on the basis of his statements.
The court, after hearing arguments in the cases, directed that these be transferred to the courts in Swat. The court, according to the lawyer, also ordered withdrawal of the terrorism charges against the TNSM chief.
Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the father-in-law of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) head Maulana Fazlullah, was arrested in 2009 along with his two sons. There were 13 cases against him mostly on sedition charges.
Due to the security threats, the ATC had been hearing the cases against the TNSM chief inside the prison for the last many months. He has been languishing for almost six years in the jail.