Appeal stage: GHQ attack convicts not to get verdict documents

Judge advocate general of army informs LHC that documents for appeal will be withheld.

LAHORE: The documents necessary for those convicted in the 2009 General Headquarters attack to prepare a defence would not be provided to the men, the judge advocate general of the army informed the Lahore High Court.

In a written response submitted to the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Monday, the judge advocate general branch of the army maintained that under the Pakistan Army Act, authorities could withhold the material in light of its sensitive nature. This material consists of trial documents as well as copies of the verdict.

The division bench of the LHC comprising Justice Saghir Ahmed Qadri put off hearing on two identical petitions filed by Aqeel Ahmed alias Dr Usman (convicted mastermind behind the October 2009 attack) and Wajid Mehmood for an indefinite period.

Ahmed who has been given a death sentence and Mehmood, given life imprisonment, filed an identical petition on September 13, asking for the documents to formally file an appeal against their convictions.

The military authorities on the other hand have said in their response that the petitioners, along with five other convicts, had already filed appeals against the August 11 verdict of the field general court martial.

They further commented that the authorities had allowed the legal attorneys of the convicted men to study the trial documents and submit their defence in the military court of appeal, which is yet to be constituted in this case.

Providing legal arguments in favour of their plea, the petitioners’ lawyers said that the Federal Shariat Court had already declared the power of the chief of army staff to keep trial proceedings on hold as un-Islamic and further argued that it was against the constitutional rights of the citizens of Pakistan.

Military authorities had charged the seven convicts with as many as 17 different charges ranging from murder, terrorism and taking hostages to deserting the army and launching an attack on the armed forces.

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