Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The execution of a civilian sentenced to death on terrorism charges by a military court was suspended by Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday, in a first challenge after the Supreme Court’s approval of such hearings.

PHC halted the sentence, demanding to know from military and government officials more details on the basis on which Haider Ali was arrested as a 14-year-old in 2009 and later convicted, his lawyer, Malik Muhammad Ajmal, said. The military says Ali is a “hard core terrorist”, and that he was convicted of involvement in suicide bombings and acts of terrorism, according to a statement released when he was convicted in April. The legality of military hearings has been challenged by rights activists and lawyers, who said that trying civilians there denied them the right to a fair trial.

But on August 5, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of a constitutional amendment that allowed the trial of civilian terrorism suspects in military courts – clearing the way for Ali’s execution after months of legal wrangling. Parliament had passed the amendment in response to an attack on a Peshawar school in December that resulted in the deaths of more than 150 people, most of them children. Ali’s execution has been suspended until September 8, Ajmal, said. The then schoolboy was arrested by security forces in the Swat Valley in September 2009, at a time when it was ruled by the Pakistani Taliban. Ali, now 21, was convicted on terrorism-related charges and sentenced to death in April.

His family and lawyer say he was never told what specific charges he faced during the military trial, such as whether they were in connection to an attack or for belonging to a specific group. “He wasn’t only a juvenile, but he didn’t know about the charges framed against him by the military authorities to hand down a death sentence. … Why have they kept him in detention for so long and under what charges?” Ajmal asked. His parents told Peshawar High Court they had been assured by the army that he would be returned within four days of his arrest six years ago, court documents show.

It was only recently, six years after Ali’s arrest, that they found out their son was imprisoned in a jail in Timergara, in Lower Dir, and was sentenced to death by a military court, the parents said in the an application. Therefore, the implementation of the military court’s verdict should be immediately stopped, the petition said. Announcing the court’s decision on the petition, a two-judge bench of PHC ordered halt to implementation of the military court’s verdict. The court has issued notices to the federal government, defence secretary, home secretary, Malakand general officer commanding and officials concerned.