Curbing terror: Govt expected to toughen criminal justice system

Interior minister likely to meet PM today regarding amendments in laws

ISLAMABAD: The government is likely to toughen the country’s criminal justice system in an effort to quickly execute the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism, officials said on Monday. Moreover, the government is also considering amendments in its Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 to throttle terror funding to outlawed outfits, they said.

Ministries of law and justice and interior have deliberated over a ‘Hate Speech and Inciting Literature and How to Choke Foreign Funding to Terrorists’ law by proposing amendments in some clauses of the Pakistan Penal Code 1861, Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010.

“Premier Nawaz Sharif is likely to give the go-ahead on such legislation. Concerned officials will brief him on this matter in a day’s time,” an official told The Express Tribune.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will brief the prime minister on Wednesday about the proposed legislation on how to curb hate speech and stop the flow of funds to proscribed organisations in Pakistan, the official added. “We need to do more against extremist groups operating in Pakistan,” he said, explaining that this is the key agenda of Nisar’s meeting with the PM.

All the legislation drafted in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre has already been discussed with the concerned quarters following the law ministry’s recommendation, a senior ministry official confirmed.

Fresh amendments will deal with international and domestic flow of funds to outlawed extremist groups and the expression of hate speech, threatening communication and abusive literature, he explained.

Law departments of both ministries have also deliberated with regards to amendments in the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 to ward off international isolation and ease operational difficulties being faced by local law-enforcement agencies, he said.

These departments have also approached law enforcement agencies like the Federal Investigation Agency on “how Pakistani authorities can freeze money of banned outfits under resolution 1267 and 1371 of the United Nations”.

Authorities like Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and FIA, under fresh legislation, will be empowered to curb hate speeches on social media and hate literature taught by some unregistered Madaris and Makatib, he said.

Under the new laws’ purview (with amendments in Pakistan Penal Code 1861 and the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997), no person would be permitted to express hatred towards someone based on ethnicity, religion, sect, nationality, race or colour, he added.

An official of the law division in the interior ministry was of the view that changes in Section 107 of the PPC, dealing with ‘abetment of a thing’, and in some clauses of the ATA 1997 have also been recommended.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2015.