PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday stayed the execution of three more alleged terrorists who had been awarded death sentence by the military courts in terrorism cases.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Irshad Qaiser suspended the death sentence of the convicts till April 12 and issued a notice for submission of record of the cases before the next hearing.
The bench also extended the stay in suspension of death sentences of three other convicted terrorists by the military courts till April 12. In the first judicial review petition filed against the military court’s decision, the bench suspended the death sentence of Fazle Ghaffar, son of Shehzad, a resident of Swat.
The lawyer appearing for Fazle Ghaffar submitted that the family members of the convicted person claimed that they did not know on what charges he had been awarded the death sentence.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, on March 15 made public the death sentence of Fazle Ghaffar. “The convict was an active member of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and was involved in assaulting armed forces. A suicide jacket was also recovered from his possession. He was tried on four charges and admitted his offences before the court,” the ISPR statement said.
The bench also suspended the death sentence of another convict, Mushtaq Ahmed, son of Muhammad Miraj till next order of the court. His lawyer submitted before the bench that Mushtaq Ahmed’s family members said that he was picked up by the security forces on December 20, 2011 and since then was untraceable. He added the family came to know through the media that Mushtaq Ahmed had been awarded death sentence by the military court.
However, the ISPR stated that, “Mushtaq Ahmad was an active member of the TTP and was involved in attacking the Saidu Sharif Airport, killing employees of the Meteorological Department and destruction of an educational institution, which resulted in death of civilians and injuries to soldiers. He was tried on six charges.”
The bench also suspended the death sentence of the third convict, Taj Gul, son of Sultan Zareen, also a resident of Swat.During hearing, his lawyer told the bench that Taj Gul’s family members through the local elders had handed him over to the security forces in 2011.
He said Taj Gul’s family came to know through the media on March 16 that he had been awarded death sentence by the military court in cases of terrorism. His father Sultan Zareen claimed in the petition that his son was innocent and was not involved in terrorism. He said the sentence was unlawful and prayed the court to declare it as void.
On the other hand, the ISPR had claimed in an earlier statement that Taj Gul was involved in attacks on the law-enforcing agencies that resulted in the death of police constables and Levies personnel. It also claimed that arms and explosives were recovered from his possession.
“He admitted his offences before the magistrate and hence was awarded the death sentence,” the ISPR stated.The court also extended the stay in the already suspended death sentences of three other convicts, including Ikramullah, son of Habibullah. The family members claimed he was innocent and was not given a chance to defend himself.
However, the ISPR claimed that Ikramullah was involved in attacking the armed forces and causing damage to the army’s helicopters. It said he was also found carrying explosives. The ISPR statement said he was tried on four charges and admitted his offences before the court.
The court also extended the stay order in suspension of the death sentence of Bakht Ameer, son of Ameer Zareen.The ISPR claimed that Bakht Ameer was tried on three charges and was involved in attacking the army personnel. It said he admitted his offences before the court and was awarded the death sentence.
The court also extended stay order on suspension of death sentence of Fateh Khan till April 12. The court had stayed his execution a day earlier on the application of his mother.
Zarba Khela, mother of the convict and a resident of Khyber Agency, had filed the application against the decision of the military court.
In the petition, she stated that her son was picked up by the security forces on November 20, 2014 from Sarband area of Peshawar.
She submitted that Fateh Khan had been missing, but she received a notice from the Kohat Prison on March 29 to meet her son as he would be hanged on March 30 after being sentenced to death on terrorism charges.
