Mystery men: Man, son to be shifted from AJK jail to Punjab
Court questions how convicted spies switched jails.
RAWALPINDI:
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir president has given his assent to a request from the Punjab government to hand over a father and his son confined in Mirpur Jail after they were convicted by a military court for espionage.
The information regarding the extradition of Abdul Karim and his son Khalil Ahmed from AJK to Punjab was conveyed to the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on Monday.
On Tuesday, Justice Saghir Ahmed Qadri of the LHC will take up a petition filed by the convicts seeking remissions and benefits of pre-conviction imprisonment to complete their jail term.
The LHC on April 27 directed the Punjab home secretary to apprise the court on efforts to recall the two men from AJK after they were shifted there from Jhelum.
Earlier, the court expressed surprise, asking how the two men were sent outside Pakistan and if there was any provision in the law allowing jail authorities to unilaterally make such transfers.
Naming the defence secretary, GHQ Judge Advocate General (JAG) and jail superintendent as respondents, the petitioners’ counsel Advocate Col (retired) Anwar Khan Afridi moved the LHC asking for consideration of their pre-conviction imprisonment as part of their sentenced jail term.
“The two men were convicted by Field General Court Marshal under Army Act and Secret Act for the charges of espionage on March 16, 2007. Abdul Karim, a resident of Indian-held Kashmir, was given four years rigorous imprisonment and his son Khalil Ahmed, a resident of Mirpur, AJK, was given six years rigorous imprisonment for espionage,” said Advocate Afridi.
“In February this year we moved the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench seeking benefit under section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminal procedure code. On March 2, the high court directed the military authorities to give the two convicts legal benefits under the CrPC,” the lawyer maintained in the petition.
The authorities did not comply with the court’s orders and the petitioners moved a fresh petition asking for the relief.
A JAG officer appeared in court on notice on April 15 and stated the trial of the two men was carried out at Mangla and the convicts were sent to Jhelum District Jail.
The chief of Jhelum Jail informed the court on April 27 that the men had been shifted to Mirpur AJK on the direction of the home secretary Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir president has given his assent to a request from the Punjab government to hand over a father and his son confined in Mirpur Jail after they were convicted by a military court for espionage.
The information regarding the extradition of Abdul Karim and his son Khalil Ahmed from AJK to Punjab was conveyed to the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on Monday.
On Tuesday, Justice Saghir Ahmed Qadri of the LHC will take up a petition filed by the convicts seeking remissions and benefits of pre-conviction imprisonment to complete their jail term.
The LHC on April 27 directed the Punjab home secretary to apprise the court on efforts to recall the two men from AJK after they were shifted there from Jhelum.
Earlier, the court expressed surprise, asking how the two men were sent outside Pakistan and if there was any provision in the law allowing jail authorities to unilaterally make such transfers.
Naming the defence secretary, GHQ Judge Advocate General (JAG) and jail superintendent as respondents, the petitioners’ counsel Advocate Col (retired) Anwar Khan Afridi moved the LHC asking for consideration of their pre-conviction imprisonment as part of their sentenced jail term.
“The two men were convicted by Field General Court Marshal under Army Act and Secret Act for the charges of espionage on March 16, 2007. Abdul Karim, a resident of Indian-held Kashmir, was given four years rigorous imprisonment and his son Khalil Ahmed, a resident of Mirpur, AJK, was given six years rigorous imprisonment for espionage,” said Advocate Afridi.
“In February this year we moved the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench seeking benefit under section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminal procedure code. On March 2, the high court directed the military authorities to give the two convicts legal benefits under the CrPC,” the lawyer maintained in the petition.
The authorities did not comply with the court’s orders and the petitioners moved a fresh petition asking for the relief.
A JAG officer appeared in court on notice on April 15 and stated the trial of the two men was carried out at Mangla and the convicts were sent to Jhelum District Jail.
The chief of Jhelum Jail informed the court on April 27 that the men had been shifted to Mirpur AJK on the direction of the home secretary Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.