Security concerns: PHC refuses to transfer Sufi Muhammad’s case to Peshawar

Pashto singer Ghazala Javed’s murder case to be heard in Swat now.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has refused to transfer a case against Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Muhammad from Dir to the provincial capital.

On Friday, an application was submitted by the office of the advocate general Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) saying that TNSM chief being a patient of chronic urinary disease cannot travel from Peshawar to Timergara and back again for every hearing. The case is presently being heard in an Anti-Terrorism Camp Court in Timergara and was requested to be moved to the Peshawar Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).

Deputy Advocate General Muhammad Rafeeq appeared before PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and said that transporting Sufi to Timergara for the case was extremely risky because of Sufi’s medical condition as the escort vehicles have to be stopped frequently during the journey.

He requested the court to transfer the case to Peshawar and also for the TNSM chief to be tried in the central prison so that all risks involved in his relocation may be avoided.

However, CJ Khan observed that it was the request of the K-P government and not of the person who is facing the charges, adding that Sufi should file an application himself.

Around 10 other cases registered against the TNSM chief under terrorism charges in 1994-95 are being heard inside the central prison Peshawar due to security reasons. Most of these cases were transferred from Timergara.

Earlier, in July, an application of the same nature was sent to the PHC with request to transfer Sufi’s case on the directives of the K-P Home and Tribal Affairs Department.

Ghazala Javed murder case transferred to Swat

Separately, the PHC has transferred the case of the alleged murder of Pashto singer Ghazala Javed to Swat.

Muhammad Ayaz, counsel for petitioner Farhat, who is Javed’s sister, informed CJ Khan that not only the clients but witnesses to the murder case also face threats to their lives.

“Most family members of the petitioner and witnesses are women and have trouble travelling all the way from Swat to Peshawar,” said Ayaz while requesting the court to transfer the case to the petitioner’s hometown.

Javed along with her father was gunned down by unidentified assailants outside a beauty salon in Dabagari on June 18. Her former husband and two accomplices are accused of killing her.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2012.