The chief of army staff has signed the death warrants of five accused in the Safoora Goth attack, in which 45 people were killed. PHOTO: FILE
Headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, the two-judge bench disposed of petitions against the continuous detention by the army of Naeem Sajid alias Peena, Qamar Sultan Siddiqui and his younger brother Muhammad Hussain Siddiqui allegedly despite their reported acquittal by a military court hearing the case.
Gunmen shot dead 45 members of the Ismaili community on the outskirts of Karachi in May 2015. Five accused in the case, including Saad Aziz, Tahir Hussain Minhas, Asadur Rehman and Mohammad Azhar Ishrat, have been sentenced to death. In May this year, army chief General Raheel Sharif also signed death warrants for their execution.
The court was informed that Sajid and Siddiqui brothers were taken into custody over allegations of facilitation and also stood trial before the military court, which acquitted them of the charges. However, the three men are still in military custody despite being cleared of the charge, their lawyers had alleged.
The court was pleaded to order the federal authorities to transfer their custody to prison as there was no legal justification for their detention anymore.
During Thursday’s proceedings, the prison authorities filed a report, stating that the army authorities had shifted Sajid, Qamar and Sultan to jail. In view of such submission, the bench disposed of the petition filed by Sajid. However, the hearing on the petition for the Siddiqui brothers was adjourned.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2016.
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