Express News screengrab of the vehicle in which the missing persons were transported to the court.
There has been an ongoing struggle to present the missing persons in court, with the Supreme Court extending deadlines for the defence authorities and the authorities being unable to make them, until today.
The missing persons were brought in with their faces covered so that they could not be identified and the defence secretary asked the media not to take any footage of them or to release their names.
Security personnel also stopped members of the media from recording videos of them.
The attorney general and Justice Ameer Hani Muslim were waiting in the court when they arrived.
The missing persons will be seated in court room seven and were individually presented in court room six for in-camera sessions.
By the end of the in-camera hearing, the identification of six of the missing persons had been completed.
Background
Yesterday, the Supreme Court had ordered the defence authorities to present the missing persons before Justice Muslim for an in-camera session at 9am on December 7.
The court had said that the attorney general can also question the missing persons during the session.
Earlier during the hearing, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had submitted a list of 35 missing persons and details of their locations to the Supreme Court.
Giving details of the missing persons, Asif had said seven of them were released, three are living in Waziristan area, one has moved to Saudi Arabia while eight have reportedly moved to Afghanistan and are living in Kunar valley.
He had added that details of five people are not known as yet, while information about seven people mentioned in the list is very sensitive.
The defence minister had said that none of the missing persons are in the military’s custody.
In yesterday’s hearing, Asif had informed the court that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had assured him that “good news” will be presented to the court today.
COMMENTS (33)
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@Ch. Allah Daad. What's completely relevant here is that women voters faced problems in Gharibabad area on the outskirts of Nushki town as they were stopped for casting their votes. Amid protest by the women voters, local administration intervened and allowed them to cast their votes!!
It would have been better if the missing persons had been treated like ordinary citizens. A crime has been committed against the rights of these citizens. They are the evidence required to prove the crime. Therefore there is not point in hiding the evidence. Those who committed the crime must be exposed and punished according to our laws.
i demand to release the missing persons of MQM who were abducted by the similar forces back from 1991 to 1998
@Ch. Allah Daad: you didn't get the point, did you? For example, if someone has broke the law, be it military or govt. official or politician, should be punished irrespective of their affiliation with an organization.
Would you be able to do the justice and demand same on the basis of equality? - if yes, be my guest and at the end of the day you are too answerable to Allah.
@M. Emad: For heavens sake! so much of water has flown under the bridge since then, get out of the mode. You sound so disgruntled with us, how come you still watch our website. Aren't your newspaper sites interesting enough?
Long live judiciary of Pakistan...kudos to Chief justice for trying to reinstate justice in country.
hence proved military is not behind missing persons, but our media is so bias towards army that even if dog dies on their doorsteps they blame army for it just like Indian media.
Good work Chief Justice. Finally there is some law in this country.
Is the Chief Justice and Supreme Court the only law in the land? No other court seems to be have the power or interest. And while its great that the law actually works, ummm, how does this help the issues that are crippling the larger picture? Aren't there other bigger fish to fry that need the same angered response?
Where are the Baloch? This was supposed to be about them!
Khawaja Asif, now go back to your day job and do what you should be doing - work as energy minister!
Faces covered and in camera session will not dupe anybody. This looks like negotiated match fixing with IMPOSTORS.
Thank you chief justice. you have showed us that law exists in this county
all this hot air gone
Due process, no matter what
Kudos for listening to the culprits and getting them (in)justice. Whereas dozens get kidnapped by organizations run by these culprits and hundreds get murdered. There is no justice for the poor in Pakistan . Infact the rich are also getting scoped out. A celebration day for culprits and there organizations. They are the MASTERs in Pakistan.
Well done job Mr. CJ finally they caught in act for interrogation