RAWALPINDI:
The field general court martial convicted seven accused for the 2009 GHQ attack, including two army personnel and five civilians, The Express Tribune has learnt.
In a verdict delivered Thursday evening, army sepoy Aqeel alias Dr Usman was sentenced to death, while another personnel Imran Siddiq was given life imprisonment. A fine of Rs 200,000 and Rs100,000 has been imposed on the two, respectively.
The convicted civilians include Khaliqur Rehman, Muhammad Usman, Wajid Ali, Muhammad Adnan and Tahir Shafiq. The first three have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other two have been given jail terms of 10 and seven years, respectively
The civilians have been convicted for assisting the attackers, helping them find their targets and inciting servicemen to wage war against the army.
People familiar with the matter said all seven convicts have been shifted to Adiala Jail.
The accused men’s lawyer, when contacted by The Express Tribune, confirmed their convictions, but said he cannot comment on the judgment until he receives a copy of the trial’s proceedings.
An official from the Inter-Services Public Relations said the men had been arrested, but did not confirm the sentences. In military courts, such cases are usually decided in a month and it does not take this long, he said while speaking to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.
The prime accused, Aqeel alias Dr Usman, is also involved in a number of other terrorism cases including the Marriot blast in Sept 2008, he said.
(Read: Major attacks on the armed forces in Pakistan)
Background
On October 10, 2009, heavily-armed militants wearing suicide vests, mounted a brazen attack on General Headquarters Rawalpindi and held off army commandos for hours.
Nine of the attackers were killed in the operation while one was arrested after he was wounded. He was identified as Aqeel, aka Dr Usman. According to the prosecution, the accomplices knew about Aqeel’s plans and had helped him carry out the attack.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2011.
COMMENTS (23)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@Sultan Ahmed.: The civilian courts, prosecutors and investigators have no protection. They are either incompetent(specially the investigators) or all of them are threatened by the BEASTS( Talibans)
If these terrorists were produced in independent Judiciary, today they would have been celebrating 14 Aug in free air. Thanks to the military court that these terrorists have been punished, other wise they too would have been left free. @Mirza: You have exposed your self long time back. Please write your correct hindu name.
What happens if the guy sentenced to death does not pay his fine? Does he get to live until he pays up :D ?
@HQ - Wow! That was a super rant without an iota of proof. Are you preparing to present this information in the next International Conspiracy Theory Exhibition?
It is difficult to believe that it was Just Dr Usman's own interest to inflict small loss to GHQ . Who is behind him is a very big question and what are their motives, people want to know.
@ HQ What about those takfeeris who killed so many innocent doughters and sisters of ummah and distroy mosque it is fun right we muslims just brave to kill own kalima go only. and after jamia hafsah this bloodshed start it,
Mirza, you are best..
Negative Mirza back.. ive seen him all over tribune with his negative comments
ET admin: Whats wrong with my comment?
@Iftikhar-ur-Rehman: In such cases,civilian courts has some reservation should hear and remove in the first instance.
If these criminals had been tried under the "independent judiciary", they already would have been honorably released.
Convictions for terrorists had to come from military courts...civilian courts are either too scared or are militant sympathizers...
Just hang 'Dr Usman'. don't wait. I would say broadcast it live so other would be terrorist can be deterred. These people don't deserve any proceedings. Just hang them.
Finally one terrorist has got death penalty and that not through the civilian courts.
Those that attack the Pakistan Army should ask themselves who would benefit if they kill fellow Muslim brothers in the Army.
[4:93] Sahih International But whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.
These Takfeeris, who have waged Jihad inside Pakistan are incapable of fighting the Americans in neighboring Afghanistan, but are willing to go suicide bombing inside Pakistani Masaajid, market places and hotels.
The TTP is basically controlled and funded by the CIA, which explains why their leader Hakeemullah Mehsud has been in Afghanistan in American controlled territory since Pakistan Army closed in on him. He and his fellow "commanders" of TTP were airlifted from the Afghan border. Baitullah Mehsud was kept in Guantanamo for 5 years, trained and sent back to wage war amongst Muslim ranks of Pakistan.
Nevertheless, Army is at fault because it is unable to stop the drone attacks in the tribal areas of both SW and NW, which is why these foreign controlled elements of TTP easily to manage to get hold of plenty foot soldiers who are willing to avenge the Pakistani state for the American drones. If they had some sense or dignity, they would rather go into Afghanistan and fight against the Americans.
This is not going to end this way and would eventually result in mutiny and civil war IF reconciliation is not done among all the groups within army!! The resentment in the Pak army regarding our support for the war on terror is no secret and we need to find a solution in the best interest of Pakistan! I have high hopes in Imran khan's ability to change the path to destruction that we have chosen for ourselves and unite the nation and army for Pakistan!
convict and hang mumtaz qadri also.
@Punjabi: Sir, in my humble opinion it does not make sense that two soldiers can attack military HQ with the help of few civilians so successfully for so long? It only proves that any foreign power can bribe only a couple of soldiers and can create mayhem in the heart of our army headquarter? Perhaps you know something that I missed. @Basit: Dear Sir, the news says:"An official from the Inter-Services Public Relations said the men had been arrested, but did not confirm the sentences. In military courts, such cases are usually decided in a month and it does not take this long, he said" Looks like you did not even bother to read the news before jumping the gun on me! Let us keep it civil and we might agree to disagree. The difference between court martial and regular civilian trial is that it is quick and it has its own rules for the swift justice.
Regards, Mirza
@Mirza: well there might be a possibility that no other rank was found guilty so they didn’t accused any of them. Isn’t this has become our national habit of seeing all sheep are black?
@Mirza, military takes its time and convicts only after all have been interrogated and all intelligence has been collected. Your drone style "justice" courtesy of your paid masters Uncle Sam is not always the answer.
After almost 2 years only a couple of lowest rank army sepoys are sentenced for the dramatic attack on GHQ. If the court martial in Pakistan army takes this long to punish a couple of pawn for a successfully planned attack on army HQ, that indicated the plight of the army top bosses. Not even a junior officer was punished for the blatant act of aggression against the armed forces.