The building of an anti terrorism court. PHOTO: EXPRESS
PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday directed the commissioner Afghan refugees to help determine whether an Afghan national can stay in the country after being blamed for a heinous crime, regardless of proof of guilt.
The court was hearing the case of Zabeehullah alias Aslam, a native of Afghanistan residing at Arbab Road, Peshawar. Zabeehullah was arrested by the Gulfat Hussain Shaheed police official for allegedly kidnapping a doctor from its jurisdiction after an FIR was registered on September 7, 2010. He was charged under sections 365-A (kidnapping for ransom), 419 (voters fraud), 386 (extortion) of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, and Section 7 (civil commotion) of the Anti-terrorism Act 1997.
The order issued on Friday by ATC Judge Syed Asghar Ali Shah states that legal questions arise whether a refugee holding an Afghan citizen registration card can be allowed to stay in Pakistan after being accused of heinous crime(s), even without being proven guilty.
The order reads that as the matter relates to the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees, the commissioner be forwarded a copy of the order to represent his organisation through a responsible officer.
“If [keeping in view] the blame on a person’s character, permission for [the refugee’s] stay remains intact and if not, what would be the future course of action if the accused is found not guilty,” the court put the question before the official from the commissionerate. The court questioned whether the accused may be permitted to stay in such a case when ordinarily such permission is granted on humanitarian grounds and may stand cancelled keeping in view the host country’s national security.
The court ordered that an authorised representative of the Commissionerate Afghan Refugees provide an explanation on the above-mentioned question as well as the statement of the accused refugee on April 23, the next date of hearing.
On February 13, the judge sentenced two Afghan nationals to life imprisonment for kidnapping a teenage boy for ransom and fined them Rs20,000 each. The wife of one of the accused was also convicted under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 for stay in the country illegally and sentenced her to seven years imprisonment.
The judge ordered that properties owned by the three convicts should be confiscated by the state and the individuals be deported to Afghanistan after the completion of their prison terms. The three convicts were charged with kidnapping 28-year-old Abdul Wahab from Tehkal on May 17, 2013. The boy was later recovered from his captors.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2014.
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