Trials for May 9 rioters yet to begin: AGP

Says suspects not to be charged with commission of offense attracting death penalty, long imprisonment

ISLAMABAD:

The state’s top law officer has told an apex court bench that court martial of the May 9 rioters has not yet started and that the cases of the civilians in the army’s custody are at “the investigation stage”.

When a six-member larger bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday resumed hearing the petitions filed against trial of civilians in military courts, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan presented a list of 102 suspects currently in the army custody.

The list also included details of the stations where these people—suspected of vandalizing army properties and memorials in the wake of the arrest of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on May 9—are detained.

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The AGP told the court that under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, the accused are provided copies of the prosecution evidence and are granted time to examine the evidence and engage a counsel after completion of an investigation.

He said as the cases of the detained civilians were at the investigation stage, their trials at military courts had not yet started. “However, if any development takes place in this regard, I will inform the honorable chief justice about it in his chamber,” he said.

He also assured the bench that military courts will not hold summary trials and that no detained civilian will be charged with commission of an offense that attracts capital punishment or a lengthy sentence. He also stated that no advocate or journalist is in the military’s custody.

In response to a query, he said the federal government shall render its assistance to trace and recover Imran Riaz Khan, a journalist and YouTuber, who has been missing since the second week of May.

A day earlier, the CJP had ordered the government to allow the suspects in army’s custody to meet their families. The AGP told the bench that as a first step the detainees will be allowed to talk to their families on telephone on Tuesday.

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“The schedule for their weekly meeting with their families will be made soon,” he said.

He said he will first seek instructions from the federal government with regard to making the list of these 102 suspects public and will inform the bench about the government’s response.

Earlier, Uzair Bhandari, the counsel for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, completed his arguments. He said the AGP’s claim that the trial of May 9 rioters had not started contradicted the June 27 press conference of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief.

When the AGP said he stood by his statement, the CJP remarked that the court believed in his words.

A member of the bench, Justice Ayesha Malik wondered as to why the government was not making details of the suspects public. “What is this secrecy for?” she asked the AGP. “Is there any issue in making public the names of the detainees?”

The AGP said it was his request that the names of the suspect and their details be kept a secret for now. “We will start informing their families [about detention of the suspects] from today. It will take 24 hours to complete the process,” he said.

The CJP appreciated the suggestion, noting that this way the families of the suspects will get to know about the whereabouts of their loved ones ahead of Eidul Azha.

Justice Yahya Afridi said it was better to first allow these suspects establish contact with their families before making this list public. Justice Ijazul Ahsan noted that the record shows that there are no charges against the 102 individuals in army’s custody.

Justice Bandial once again rejected the request to suspend the proceedings of the military court as he later adjourned hearing till after Eid vacations