Military court hands down 12 years prison term to Uzair Baloch for espionage

KARACHI: A military court has sentenced the notorious Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch to 12 years in prison after convicting him of espionage for foreign countries, a correspondence between the jail authorities and the court police disclosed.

The army had taken Baloch in custody on April 2017, a year after his arrest by Rangers, to try him for espionage and leaking of sensitive information to foreign intelligence agencies, a statement from the Inter Services Public Relations said. “[He] was convicted by the Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Officer 1st (Self Propelled) Medium Regiment Artillery on [April, 4, 2020] in Pakistan Army Act section 59 (civil offences) read with section 3 (penalties for spying) of the Official Secret Act and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 12 years,” a letter from the SSP central jail to the SSP Court Police read. After the pronouncement of verdict, the military authorities had handed him over to the central prison to try him in the 59 cases, pertaining to murder, kidnapping, extortion, etc., against him pending before different anti-terrorism and sessions courts.

Earlier this month, the home authorities had transferred Baloch from central prison to the Rangers facility Mitha Ram Hostel over security concerns, binding the paramilitary force and the police to take all possible measures to avert any chance of criminal act or threat to the inmate and the staff posted on him at the sub-jail. In the aforesaid letter, the SSP central prison asked his counterpart in the court police to arrange a “very very strong police escort” headed by a senior police officer to move Baloch in an armored personnel carrier from the sub-jail to the judicial complex inside central prison for his production before an ATC.

Rangers had announced arresting Baloch from the outskirts of Karachi in January 2016. Some unverified reports said that he was arrested earlier from Dubai with the help of Interpol. Later a joint investigation team formed to probe Uzair concluded that he was involved in spying and providing secret information about sensitive installations to the Iranian intelligence outfits.

Last month, his family moved the Sindh High Court challenging his conviction by the military court. His mother, Razia Begum, said that military and prisons authorities were asked for a copy of military court proceedings but was provided. She added that her son was convicted without jurisdiction and cogent evidence and he had the right for a fair trial and the legal right to appeal against his conviction. She also sought an injunction against the authorities to let her and her counsel to meet Baloch in prison.