Pakistan

Alleged links to Hizbut Tahrir: Army brass undecided on action against servicemen

All accused will be given full right of defence by the board of inquiry.

Qaiser Butt June 27, 2011

ISLAMABAD:

The military command has yet to decide whether the recently arrested army officers should be tried by a court martial or be dismissed from the army, said Brig (retd ) Shaukat Qadir, who is familiar with the procedure.

Last week, the army had detained Brigadier Ali Khan, an officer who had been serving at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, for his alleged ties to extremist organisations. A day later, four army majors were arrested for their alleged links with the banned organisation Hizbut Tahrir.

The adjutant general of the Pakistan Army will decide the issue after receiving the findings of the board of inquiry (constituted by him) to investigate the allegations against the arrested officers.

The board of inquiry will give the full right of defence to the five officers detained for having links with the United Kingdom-based outfit Hizbut Tahrir and also for breaching army discipline.

Another source revealed that the activists of the organisation will also be put on trial before a general court martial, along with the army officers in case the adjutant general decides to constitute the court and try the accused.

According to a Supreme Court ruling, a civilian can be tried by the military tribunal if the person is implicated in an offence against the Pakistan Army, said lawyer Qazi Mohammad Anwar.

It is learnt that security agencies have arrested some activists of HT for giving “instigating” material to army officers to make them work against their high command and the civilian government.

An army officer charged by military court for breaching discipline is liable to be imprisoned for a maximum of 10 years.

The sentence of life imprisonment or death, under the military laws, can be given if the accused is found guilty of mutiny or intending mutiny, he said.

However, Qadir said the inquiry board has yet to determine the nature of the offence allegedly committed by the arrested army officers. “The army has a very transparent judicial system that provides full rights of defence to the accused, he said adding that “under the system, the prosecution will have to establish its case with undeniable evidence.”

He may recommend to the chief of army staff for the dismissal of the officers in case the board of inquiry does not find sufficient evidence against them that warrants a court martial.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (17)

l. Khan | 13 years ago | Reply The Hizb ul Tahrir reportedly shuns violence and believes preachiing will do the job. Maybe if the Brig and other accused had been part of jihadist that attacks the state they would be "heroes" like Ilyas Kashmirir who "lives and dies"

Syed | 13 years ago | Reply if you disagree with this group bring your ayat and proof or declare your own kufr and take it with you to allah swt on the day of judgement, they are not terrorist, islam doesnt believe in that cause allah swt says in the quran " do not transgress the limits" These people are the smartest and strongest muslims and are calling you to dignify your slef. heed it,

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jutt | 13 years ago | Reply ht are known to be the best idealog,s around the world, none can challenge the logic of the thoughts they carry, I think, seculars are now doomed.

Nabeel | 13 years ago | Reply Pakistan's creation was based on Islam and the two nation theory, that is what we were taught in schools and continue to teach our future generations throughout. We were taught about the Heroics of Khilafat movement and its leadership including the two famous Johar brothers and their mother's famous advise of '' Jaan baita khilafat per dey do'' What a dire state our country is in! 90 years on, our state is consistently persecuting the modern day Johar brothers, the very people who openly call for Khilafat. may be our policy makers and establishment have forgotten about their past and the sacrifices of their forefathers, the people of pakistan would continue to hold them and their ideas to high esteem.

Menon | 13 years ago | Reply Prelude to doing nothing!

G. Din | 13 years ago | Reply The higher brass cannot decide? Hmmm! Would it be because the foot soldiers who are put on the chopping block will expose some or all of them? After all, foot soldiers don't go marching on their own unless someone commands them to do so!

Saad K | 13 years ago | Reply @Mirza: holy cow, goes here !!! braveo muslim solders hell bent on ruining the country by turning it into an islamic emirate. Pakistan's destination is a secular republic and not a cursed theocracy.

faraz | 13 years ago | Reply HT is against the constituion of pakistan and the democratic system of the country. They want a dictatorship, and in Pakistan where army is the strongest institution, it will be a military dictatorship. We have had enough of such lame military dictators; any such adventure will lead to the break-up of pakistan. The narrative of ideological state couldnt prevent the Dhaka fall; a democratic system alongwith provincial autonomy is the only way out

TightDhoti | 13 years ago | Reply The army has a very transparent judicial system that provides full rights of defence to the accused, he said adding that “under the system, the prosecution will have to establish its case with undeniable evidence.” Yes, so effective is military judicial system that the prosecution was never able to pin anything on the Generals in 1971. After ripping and rewriting Pakistan's constitution bloody civilians dont have the luxury of a "transparent judicial system". Lets see where this circus leads to.

R S JOHAR | 13 years ago | Reply I feel that the Pak military top brass must take strong action against the guilty officers incase enough evidence has been found to prosecute them inorder to give a clear message to all who have either joined or thinking of joining any such militant organisation. HT in particular is quite dangerous who is asking the military officers to revolt by carrying-out its propaganda in a very systematic manner. The weeding-out of un-desirable elements who are motivating others is the only way to curb this menace which will otherwise spread in disappropriate proportions and divide the armed-forces to its peril.

Saqib | 13 years ago | Reply @Ahmed: Brother they do know abt their existence and they also know that they are a non-militant political party, so they can't act against them. However, our military is doing coz HT is challenging the status quo and calling for army to stop siding with US........ What's wrong in that??

Tariq Shaikh | 13 years ago | Reply How can a "transparent judicial system" be based on the judge, the jury and the prosecution all reporting to the same chain of command?

Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply MI-5 and MI-6 of UK do not know the existence of Hizb-ul-Tehrir in their home country? What a ridiculous it is. People think over it, what does it mean....

Umar | 13 years ago | Reply if he is innocent then he must be re-instated with honour otherwise fired along with others.

kazi jawed akhter | 13 years ago | Reply Armed forces must be cleared from supporters of freedom party(Hezb ulTehreer).

Mirza | 13 years ago | Reply They should be immediately released by the courts and awarded medals of Honor by the army. It was all a mis-understanding and a conspiracy against good old Muslims. We have to apologize to them, compensate for their time and look for the foreign agents who are responsible for all these terrorist acts. Let us not start the Western tradition of transparency and questioning our brave officers who are good Muslims.

Moise | 13 years ago | Reply However, Qadir said the inquiry board has yet to determine the nature of the offence allegedly committed by the arrested army officers. Catch first, decide crime later.

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