Acquitted and in custody: They are being detained in FATA, court told

The 3 men are facing court martial for their alleged involvement in Nov 2007 terrorist attacks.

ISLAMABAD:

The three missing men who are facing court martial proceedings are being detained in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), a representative of military intelligence told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday.

Judge Advocate General (JAG) Muhammad Abid Raja submitted his reply before Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan of IHC, stating that Abdul Saboor, Abdul Majid and Abdul Basit were being interned under Fata Regulations Action in Aid of Civil Powers-2011. Lieutenant Colonel Tahir Mehmood, representing JAG branch, and the petitioner’s counsel Colonel (retd) Inamur Rahim were present in the court.

Earlier, on September 29, the court had directed JAG to submit a reply on the detention of the three men facing court martial, as they had already been acquitted of involvement in the November 2007 terrorist attacks on GHQ and Hamza Camp.

The petition was filed on August 17, 2011 by Mufti Abdul Bias through Colonel (retd) Inamur Rahim, challenging the illegal detention of the three men by intelligence agencies over the attacks. On September 21, the federation raised an objection that the petitions were not maintainable in IHC, which was rejected by the court.

The lawyer representing the spy agencies told the SC that the three men were in their custody, and would be tried under the Army Act.

However, Col Rahim, the petitioner’s counsel, said that the three brothers were among 11 people were acquitted in four terrorism cases by a trial court. “Justice Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed of LHC Rawalpindi Bench had set aside their detention orders on May 2010 and instead of releasing them, Adiala Jail Superintendent Saeedullah Gondal handed them over to an intelligence agency,” he said.

The families of detained men had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) last December.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2011.