JuD chief Hafiz Saeed jailed for terror financing

Ag Agencies

LAHORE: Hafiz Saeed, the chief of outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) charity, was sentenced on Wednesday to almost six-year imprisonment in two terror financing cases by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore.

The JuD chief and co-accused Malik Zafar Iqbal were jailed for five-and-a-half years each in two cases registered by Lahore and Gujranwala police and also ordered to pay Rs 15,000 fine. Both the sentences would run concurrently, according to the verdict announced by Justice Arshad Hussain Bhutta. The judgement had been reserved after hearing arguments of the parties last week.

Saeed’s lawyer told a foreign news agency that his client was found guilty of “being part of a banned terrorist outfit” and for “having illegal property”. “There was nothing to the case really, this was just due to pressure from the FATF,” the lawyer said. The cases against the JuD chief were led by Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Rauf Watto. Around 23 witnesses recorded their statements in the cases.

The JuD chief, who has several cases pending against him, was arrested by Punjab’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in July last year when he was travelling to Gujranwala from Lahore to appear before an ATC to seek pre-arrest bail.

It is pertinent to mention that the CTD had registered 23 cases against the leadership of JuD, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation for making assets from terrorism financing.

The leaders booked in terrorism financing cases include Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Abdul Rehman Makki, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Ameer Hamza, Muhammad Yahya Aziz, Muhammad Naeem Sh, Mohsin Bilal, Abdul Raqeeb, Dr Ahmad Daud, Dr Muhammad Ayub, Abdullah Ubaid, Muhammad Ali and Abdul Ghaffar.

The cases were registered in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan on July 1-2, 2019 for collection of funds for terrorism financing through assets/properties made and held in the names of trusts/non profit organisations, including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawat-ul-Irshad Trust, Maaz-Bin-Jabal Educational Trust, Al Hamd Trust and Al Madina Foundation Trust.

The firebrand cleric was declared a global terrorist by the United States and United Nations with a $10 million bounty on his head.