Court-martial: Brig Ali walks free after completing jail term

Retired army officer was sentenced to five years in jail for ties with Hizb-ut Tahrir .

RAWALPINDI: A brigadier sentenced to five-year imprisonment for his links with an outlawed pan-Islamic extremist group was released from Adiala Jail on Tuesday after he completed his jail-term.

Brigadier (retd) Muhammad Ali Khan was convicted by the Field General Court Marshal for his association with banned Hizb-ut Tahrir (HuT) group in August 2012 and sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment (RI).

Four majors were also convicted in the case. Major Sohail Akbar was awarded three-year RI while Major Jawad Baseer was sentenced to two years in jail, whereas Major Inayat Aziz and Major Iftikhar were awarded one year and six months jail term. Sources have told The Express Tribune that Brig Ali was released from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after completing his jail term. He is said to have received several remissions in his sentence.

Brig (retd) Ali was arrested in May 2011 for his links with HuT. Initially, military authorities alleged that he, along with other military officers, was planning to overthrow the then civilian government. However, the prosecution later charged them with having links with HuT only.

The prosecution had presented five prosecution witnesses against Brig (retd) Ali and other accused. Witnesses testified that they were approached by Brig Ali and asked them to join HuT.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2016.