ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif on Friday ratified death sentences awarded to nine people convicted of terrorism by military courts in high-profile cases.

“Today, the Chief of Army Staff confirmed death sentences awar­ded to another nine hardcore terrorists who were involved in heinous offences relating to terrorism,” the ISPR said in a statement.

The convicts belonged to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami, Al Qaeda and Sipah-i-Sahaba (which is currently functioning under a new name).

According to the ISPR, they were found to have been involved in attacks on Parade Lane Mosque, the ISI’s Multan offices and law enforcement personnel.

The Sipah-i-Sahaba men were tried on charges of sectarian killings carried out in Lahore between 2012 and 2014 and an attack on journalist Raza Rumi in which his driver was killed.

Apart from the Army Public School massacre, an attack on a bus carrying Iran-bound pilgrims and an attempt on the life of Maj Gen Sanaullah, Swat’s General Officer Commanding, the latest convictions and sentencing came in some of the most high-profile cases to have been decided by the military courts so far.

Another feature of the death penalties was that the military’s public affairs wing for the first time identified the convicts by their party affiliation.

Some Lashkar-i-Jhangvi men were given capital punishment in September, but their association with the group was not made public. They were then referred to as “men belonging to a banned entity”.

Twenty-seven people had been previously sentenced to death, while another four awarded life sentences by military courts established last year for two years through a special law enacted in the aftermath of the Army Public School carnage. Eight of the convicts, including four who facilitated the APS attack, were executed last month, whereas some of the convictions have been challenged in superior courts.

The government has so far referred 148 terrorism cases to military courts for trial. Of these, 55 were decided last year. Some 80 cases are still being tried by 11 special courts constituted by the Army.

Gen Raheel Sharif had approved a plan in August to raise the number of courts in Karachi, but that has not happened as yet.

A snapshot of the nine convicts and the cases in which they were involved, as provided by ISPR, follows:

Mohammad Ghauri s/o Javed Iqbal: The convict was an active member of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and in charge of the outfit’s media cell. He was involved in attack on Parade Lane Mosque, Rawalpindi, which resulted in death of 38 people. The attack left 57 people injured. He admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on 4 charges and awarded death sentence.

Abdul Qayyum s/o Ameer Mohammad: The convict was an active member of Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami, Punjab. He was involved in attack on Inter Services Intelligence offices in Multan, which left seven people dead and 72 injured. He admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on 7 charges and awarded death sentence.

Mohammad Imran s/o Abdul Manan: The convict was an active member of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. He was involved in terrorist acts and attacks on law-enforcement personnel, killing and injuring civilians and soldiers. He admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on 4 charges and awarded death sentence.

Aksan Mehboob s/o Asghar Ali: The convict was an active member of Al Qaeda. He was involved in attacks on law-enforcement personnel which claimed casualties. He admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on 4 charges and awarded death sentence.

Five convicts — Adbul Rauf Gujjar s/o Rehmat Ali, Mohammad Hashim s/o Mohammad Abdullah, Sulaman s/o Boneer, Shafqat Farooqi s/o Malik Liaqat Ali and Mohammad Farhan s/o Muhammad Rafique — were active members of Sepah-i-Sahaba. They were involved in the killing of civilians in Lahore.

Gujjar has been awarded sentence for killing four people — Syed Shakir Ali Rizvi (a lawyer killed in October, 2012), Syed Waqar Haider (a banker killed in February, 2013), Syed Arshad Ali (a lawyer killed in September, 2013) and Ghulam Mustafa (the driver of journalist Raza Rumi who was killed in a attack in March, 2014) as well as causing injuries to Abdul Sattar Tahir and Anwar Hussain in Lahore.

The rest of the convicts were involved in the murder of Ghulam Mustafa. They injured Anwar Hussain. These convicts admitted their offences before the Magistrate. Gujjar was tried on 8 charges whereas the other convicts were tried on 4 charges each and all have been awarded death sentence.

RAZA RUMI: In a statement from the US, journalist Raza Rumi said: “The stance of the military against violent sectarian militias is welcome and much needed.”

He stressed that it was more important to defeat the toxic ideology spread by seminaries that brainwash and train men to kill fellow citizens.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2016