PHC sets aside conviction of two alleged militants

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday set aside the conviction of two persons charged with bombing nine schools and having links with a militant organisation in the Mohmand tribal district.

A single bench of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim set aside the sentences after the state lawyers failed to defend the conviction for lack of evidence. The court acquitted Haji Rehman hailing from Haleemzai tehsil and Javed belonging to Pandyali tehsil in Mohmand. Rashid Ahmad Mohmand, counsel for the appellants, contended that the security forces had arrested Javed in 2013 and Haji Rehman in 2017 and handed them over to the political authorities for a trial.

He said the then political agent had awarded five years sentence to Javed on the charges of blowing up nine schools. The counsel said that Haji Rehman was also sentenced to five years for having links with militant organisation Jamaatul Ahrar and possessing explosives. The lawyer argued the accused were awarded sentences without fulfilling legal requirements. He said even the official jirga and the joint investigation team had cleared them for lack of evidence. The lawyer prayed before the bench to set aside the conviction.