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No bail for terrorists under new law

* Portrayal of terrorists as ‘heroes’ declared an offence
* Suspected terrorists will be deemed guilty unless proven otherwise

By Akhtar Amin

PESHAWAR: The government has amended the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 through the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance 2009, which bars courts from granting bail to suspected terrorists liable to the death sentence, life imprisonment or a 10-year prison term.

According to a copy of the ordinance available with Daily Times, the government has amended Section 21-D of the Anti Terrorism Act 1997, under which no court, including the high courts and the Supreme Court, can grant bail to a person liable to these punishments.

The government had included Section 21-E in the act, under which the period of physical remand of suspected terrorists has been increased from 30 days to 90 days, enabling police to effectively interrogate suspects. Under the new Section 21-E, banks and monetary institutions are bound to provide information on transactions and accounts having links with crimes or financial assistance to terrorists.

The government had also amended Section 11-W, under which the portrayal of terrorists as heroes, spreading religious, sectarian or linguistic hate, or promoting extremism through radio, wall-chalking and other means have been declared criminal offences. Any person found involved in portrayal of terrorists as heroes would be liable to a sentence of up to six months and a fine.

NWFP Law Minister Barrister Arshad Abdullah told Daily Times that the amendments were made as hundreds of alleged Taliban and their leaders, including Muslim Khan, commander Mahmood Khan and others, had been arrested during the military operation in Swat and Malakand, but they had not been presented in courts due to complications in the existing anti-terrorism laws. He said three interrogation centres, including Fizzagat, Khwazakhela and Malakand, had been declared sub-jails where the Taliban had been detained.

“Under the new law, Taliban will be deemed terrorists unless they prove themselves otherwise,” he said, adding that the “burden of proof” would now be shifted to the accused under the special law.

The law minister said confessions made by Taliban suspects would be recorded in front of a security official equal to the rank of a senior superintendent of police or an army colonel and would be considered an extra-judicial confession, he added. The minister said the definition of terrorism had been widened and suspects arrested with explosives, lethal weapons, or found operating radio channels as tools of anti-state activities, would be considered terrorists. Abdullah said human rights organisations and lawyers might oppose the legislation, but the government had no other alternative, as citizens were not willing to came forward and volunteer evidence against arrested terrorists. As the military operation in Swat nears completion, the detained terrorists would now be interrogated and tried under the new law, he said. President Asif Ali Zardari, on the advice of the prime minister, had approved the extension of the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 to Federally Administered Tribal Areas of the NWFP in terms of Article 247.

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