‘Terror convict’ military court death sentence suspended

PHC issues notice to the federal defence minister, ministry to produce the trial record

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday suspended the execution of a man — convicted of terrorism by a military court — after his sentence was challenged.

Subsequently, notices were issued to the federal minister of defence.



The order was issued by the two-judge bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Muhammad Ayub, as they held a preliminary hearing of a writ petition filed by Sadaqat Begum.

Begum, who submitted through her lawyer Akhunzad Asad Iqbal, contended that the convict in the case, her husband Shakir Ullah, is innocent.

She further argued that her husband was not given an opportunity to defend himself in the military court.



A resident of Dir, the petitioner told the court that her husband went missing on April 19, 2010. Unable to locate him, Begum said that they had lodged an FIR for his disappearance at the Pahari Pura police station in Peshawar.

After eight years, Iqbal said, Begum received a letter on June 11, 2018, informing them that Shakir Ullah was locked up in the Kohat interment centre and that he has been sentenced to death by a military court.

“My client is innocent and his trial by the military court was not fair as he has not been provided with an opportunity to defend himself against the charges levelled against him,” contended Iqbal.

“It is also not clear whether he was provided with a lawyer or not [during his trial].”

The lawyer argued that under the Constitution, every citizen has the right to defend themselves against the charges levelled against them in a court of law. For this purpose, they have the right to hire a lawyer to plead their case.

“There is no record provided about the grounds on which Shakir Ullah has been convicted,” argued the lawyer.

He urged the court to set aside the sentence of the military court. As interim relief, the lawyer urged the court to stay his execution.

After hearing the arguments of the petitioner, the bench has accepted the petition for hearing, suspended the military court order and issued a notice to the defence ministry asking it to produce the record of the case of the convict.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2018.