Mothers of two APS attack convicts appeal to PHC

PESHAWAR: Two of the six convicts of the Army Public School attack case have challenged their sentence in the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
Mothers of both the convicts filed appeals through Advocate Malik Mohammad Ajmal, requesting the court to declare the trial by the military court as illegal and void on different grounds. They pleaded that one of the convicts, Haidar Ali, was a juvenile, and remained in illegal detention for six years. They pointed out that the second convict, Qari Zahir Gul, had spent four years in detention.
Anwar Bibi, mother of Qari Zahir Gul and resident of Khar, Bajaur Agency, in her writ petition filed in the high court maintained that her son was taken into custody by the security forces in 2011 and later the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) declared him as ‘black’.
She submitted that recently she came to know through the media that her already detained son had been awarded death sentence by a military court. According to the petitioner, no record about the convict’s case presently being held in District Jail Timergara, Lower Dir had been produced by the respondents until now nor were they ready to do so.
Bacha Laiqa, mother of Haider Ali in the writ petition stated that her son was a regular student of Grade 10 at Malakand High School, Sarsenai, Kabal tehsil in Swat. She added that Haider Ali had obtained 388 out of 525 marks in grade 9 examination.
The petitioner also attached the attendance sheet of her son, stating the he attended his school regularly and had no nexus with any militant outfit. According to his school records and birth certificate, the convict was born on December 1, 1994, which meant that at the time of his arrest in 2009 he was around 15 years old.
According to the petitioner, her husband was directed by the army authorities of 24 Baloch Regiment stationed in Swat to produce the detainee/convict before them. She added that he complied with the order and produced Haider Ali through members of a local jirga on September 21, 2009, at about 5pm on the day of Eidul Fitr. The petitioner stated that her husband and members of the jirga were assured by the army authorities that her son would be allowed to return home within a few days.
She stated that her husband filed several applications before different authorities including the chief justice of Pakistan, to seek legal help for the release of her son when he wasn’t released and his whereabouts were not disclosed to the family.
The petitioner claimed that her son was kept incommunicado for many years and finally through news reports a few months ago the family came to know that six persons including Haider Ali had been convicted by the military court. She said it was not specified under what charges they were tried and where the trial had taken place.
It may be added that six suspects, including Noor Saeed, Haider Ali, Murad Khan, Inayatullah, Israruddin and Qari Zahir, were sentenced to death on April 2 by the military courts. The military courts were established after the passage of the 21st Amendment and subsequent amendments in the Army Act. These amendments were challenged in the Supreme Court, which dismissed all the petitions on August 5.