The detention orders of five men acquitted in two terrorism cases have been challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the second time.
The relatives of five men, namely Faisal Mehmood, Muhammad Sarfraz, Zeeshan Jalil, Usama bin Waheed and Dr Abdul Razzaq, have challenged 90-day confinement orders issued by the federal government on April 4. The challenge is based on the grounds that the orders are unlawful.
The five men, along with four others, were allegedly involved in suicide attacks which killed military Surgeon General Mushtaq Baig in February 2008. They were also arrested for carrying a huge quantity of explosive material.
A trial court, however, acquitted the nine men of the suicide attacked and convicted them for carrying explosives last year. On April 12, the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court set aside their conviction in the explosives case.
The counsel for the petitioner has asked the secretary of Ministry of Interior and chief commissioner of Islamabad to respond to the petition.
According to the petitioners, the deputy commissioner of Islamabad issued detention orders for one month on March 9, 2011. The orders were challenged and the IHC set aside the detention on April 6.
Furthermore, the petitioners maintained that there was no reason for detaining the men following their acquittal after lengthy trials and investigations. They prayed to the court to set aside the detention orders and release the men as there was no case pending against them.
IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman could not take up the case because of ill health.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ