Sedition case: Policeman bears witness against Sufi Muhammad

Sub-inspector tells court he was present at rally in which the cleric called the government ‘un-Islamic’

PESHAWAR:

A police officer has recorded his statement as a complainant and witness in a sedition case against Maulana Sufi Muhammad, chief of the banned Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM). The cleric is accused of delivering an anti-government speech in Lower Dir in 2009.

The witness, SI Shah Jee, recorded his statement during the hearing held on Saturday at Central Prison Peshawar. According to Shah Jee, he was posted as an SI at Timergara police station, Lower Dir in 2009 and was present when Sufi Muhammad addressed a rally in Rest House Ground and termed the government of the time “un-Islamic”.

Shah Jee added the accused also said in the speech that religious scholars were not raising their voice against the system. Moreover, the SI produced the daily diary of the relevant police station.

Meanwhile, Sufi Muhammad’s counsel Adil Majeed submitted an application to transfer the sedition case from the anti-terrorism court to a regular court. He contended that the case was filed under Section 23 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, but the offence the cleric is accused of does not fall under the ambit of terrorism offences.

The court then issued a notice to the state and sought written replies in response to the counsel’s application. The next hearing was fixed for March 21.

Speaking to The Express Tribune after the hearing, Majeed said, “We have filed an application to transfer the case to a regular court. A complainant appeared before the court today and recorded his statement.”

The TNSM chief was indicted in the case by the ATC on February 7.

A history of violence

The cleric was detained by security forces during the Swat military operation. A total of 13 cases were registered against him for murder, treason, arson and sedition, of which he has been acquitted in 10; the remaining are yet to be heard by the court.

Some hearings were held in Timergara, but due to security concerns in Malakand and particularly in Swat, he was shifted to Central Prison Peshawar in 2009 and a camp court was set up where his case proceedings are held now.

In November last year, an ATC acquitted him in two terrorism cases. The first was registered for allegedly attacking a police station in Khwazakhela, Swat with several of his accomplices. The attack left a policeman dead and the building damaged.

The second case was registered after he and his supporters allegedly attacked a Frontier Corps convoy in 1995 in the jurisdiction of the same police station. The assault left one soldier dead and several others injured.

Maulana Sufi Muhammad is the father-in-law of the chief of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Mullah Fazlullah. He is known for trying to impose Shariah by force in Swat and Malakand and sending volunteers to fight against the US forces in Afghanistan in 2001.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2015.