Unfinished business: Peshawar and Mardan terrorism courts count highest convictions so far this year

153 trials concluded in 17 courts of the province, out of which 31 suspects have been convicted.

PESHAWAR:

Out of the 17 anti-terrorism courts in the region, it appears that court number III in Peshawar and the one in Mardan are marking up the highest number of convictions. Both received 24 cases and convicted nine suspects.

The other anti-terrorism courts across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are, however, struggling with a backlog. So far this year, in five months, 146 cases have piled up.

Data available with The Express Tribune reveals that 153 trials for acts of terrorism have been concluded in these courts, out of which 31 suspects have been convicted. Eighty suspects, on the other hand, have been acquitted, and the cases of 42 were consigned to the records room under Section 512 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which applies if the suspects are still at large or the police could not find them.

There are five anti-terrorism courts in Swat, three in Peshawar, one each in Bannu, DI Khan, Lower Dir and Mardan. There are two each in Abbottabad and Kohat, one in Kanju, and one that doesn’t work in Buner. There is also a camp court for Abbottabad at Haripur Central Jail, one for Malakand at Batkhela, and one each for Swat and Kohat at the Peshawar Central Jail.

The three anti-terrorism judges in Peshawar are Salim Jan Khan, Abdur Rauf and Syed Asghar Ali Shah. These three courts have collectively concluded trials in 57 cases, in which 17 people accused of terrorism were convicted and 20 were acquitted. The records of 20 suspects have been consigned to the record rooms and 36 cases have been pending before them in the first five months of the year.

Similarly, there are 30 cases before the anti-terrorism court in Lower Dir, 24 in Mardan, 18 collective cases before four courts in Swat, 15 in Kohat, 10 in Abbottabad, six cases from Malakand at the camp court in Batkhela, four in DI Khan, and three cases from Kohat at the camp court in Peshawar Central Jail. The Abbottabad camp court at Haripur Central Jail and the court in Bannu have had no pending cases in this year.

The PPO

The federal government enacted the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance on Friday after it was signed by President Mamnoon Hussain. The ordinance gives sweeping powers to the security forces and police to tighten their grip. Section 8 of the PPO states that the government may set up as many special courts under this ordinance as it sees fit. The government, in consultation with the chief justice of the high court concerned, may appoint any person as a judge of the special court constituted under this ordinance. The judge has to either be or have been a sessions judge in any province of Pakistan or an advocate of the high court for a period of not less than 10 years.

Section 5, Sub-Section 3 says that whenever a person is arrested or detained in custody and it appears that the inquiry cannot be completed within a 24-hour-period, a member of the joint investigation team shall produce that person before a special judicial magistrate and they may apply for remand of the accused to the custody of the police or custody of any other investigation agency.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2014.