Lal Masjid operation: AGP against disclosing withheld case documents

Tells top court information may endanger the lives of witnesses.

ISLAMABAD: The supplementary information attached with the 2007 Lal Masjid operation investigation report if made public will put at risk the lives of several witnesses, the country’s chief prosecutor has said.

The attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) told the Supreme Court on Monday that releasing the sealed envelopes and documents appended to the inquiry commission’s report would compromise the security of the witnesses.

The top court had formed a commission under Federal Shariat Court’s Justice Shahzado Sheikh to investigate the controversial military operation, which reportedly left 103 people dead in July 2007. The panel had submitted its report on March 22, 2013, after recording testimonies of several witnesses.

After examining the report on April 18, 2013, the court allowed making only the report public and withholding “the remaining documents of the report, which might be opened, on need to know basis, at the appropriate time”.

Last year, the Shuhada Foundation – a body representing the families of the victims of the operation – filed an application in the apex court, requesting the sealed envelopes be opened to know the truth and to be made a part of evidence against then president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

The court had sought the reply from the top prosecutor on the plea.

AGP Salman Aslam Butt told the two-judge bench, headed by Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, the disclosure of information might affect the trial of the ongoing Lal Masjid case.

The bench asked Shuhada Foundation’s counsel Tariq Asad to file his reply on the AGP’s stance.

Asad said the government did not take any practical steps for the students of Jamia Hafsa, which still had not been reconstructed since the operation. He contended the facts should be brought before the public to bring the culprits to justice.

He alleged the supply of ration by donations to the seminary had been stopped and Lal Masjid’s prayer leader Maulana Abdul Aziz was pressured to pardon Musharraf. He claimed he was also receiving threats.

Shahid Orakzai, who approached the SC before becoming a party in this case, contended the commission’s report did not carry any legal value.

The judges also asked the AGP to submit his reply about the legal status of the inquiry commission’s report and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th,  2016.