Most suspected terrorists operating from prisons, says KP government

PESHAWAR: The KP government on Tuesday informed the Peshawar High Court (PHC) that the government had restricted the visitation of relatives with suspected terrorists as majority of them had established network from prisons.

“The provincial government has adopted new strict policy for visitation of relatives with the suspected terrorists in prisons. “The relatives could meet with the dangerous prisoners once in two months after getting clearance certificate from the district superintendent of police that the visitors are not involved in any criminal case,” Additional Advocate General, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Umar Farooq Adam, informed a division bench.

Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan were on the bench. It was hearing writ petitions of relatives against the government ban on meeting with these prisoners. They included a mother Nabila, whose son Ijaz was languishing in Haripur Central Prison and Bacha Gul, whose son Mazharul Haq was languishing in the nternment centre in Malakand.

During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the condition of clearance certificate from SP was not right as the people access to such officers was difficult in the Police Department.However, Justice Qaiser Rashid remarked that there was no need for a mother to take clearance certificate from police officers for meeting a son in the prison as it was her lawful right.

Muhammad Altaf, counsel for Nabila, informed the bench that his client’s son Muhammad Ijaz was arrested in 2012 in his uncle murder case and later he was sentenced to life imprisonment.He said that Ijaz was a juvenile prisoner and the prison authorities banned the mother from meeting with her son for the last one year.

However, the AAG Umar Farooq Adam said the convicted boy had developed links with terrorists in the prison and visitation was banned on him due to security reasons.The bench ordered the authorities concerned to ensure the mother’s meeting once in two months without police clearance.The court also issued directives to the provincial government to ensure visitation rights of the prisoners as per the Prisons Rules and disposed of the petitions.