Daily Times

An antiterrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Saturday announced to indict on December 7 proscribed Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and other JuD leaders who were booked in July for offences pertaining to terror financing.

Hafiz Saeed, deputy emir Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Hafiz Abdul Salam bin Mohammad, Professor Zafar Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraf, Yahya Aziz, and others were presented before the court on Saturday under strict security. The court was provided copies of nearly two dozen cases registered against the JuD leaders during the hearing which was presided over by Judge Malik Arshad Bhutta, according to Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Rauf Watoo. “As per law, after the provision of copies to the court, the trial begins. The first step of a trial is indictment,” explained Watoo.

The state’s counsel requested the court to hold daily hearings since the copies had been provided. At this, the lawyers for the JuD leaders, Naseeruddin Nayyar and Imran Gul, argued that they be given a week’s time so that they can carefully examine the documents and prepare their arguments.

When the state counsel pressed for daily hearings nonetheless, Judge Bhutta said, “The law binds us to hold a fair trial with properly prepared arguments. That’s why everyone should be given time.”

With this, he adjourned the trial till December 7.

On July 3, the top 13 leaders of the JuD were booked in nearly two dozen cases for terror financing and money laundering under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. The Counterterrorism Department (CTD), which registered the cases in five cities of Punjab, had declared that the JuD was financing terrorism from the massive funds collected through non-profit organisations and trusts including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muaz Bin Jabal Trust, etc.