PESHAWAR: The recent conviction and award of death sentence to a Mohmand Agency tribesman by a military court for terrorism was challenged in the Peshawar High Court on Monday.

Convict Mohammad Imran’s brother Mohammad Ayaz filed a petition with the high court requesting it to declare void, illegal and without lawful authority the military court’s proceedings on the basis of which his brother was convicted and sentenced to death.

The petition filed through lawyer Arif Jan stated that the convict was a missing person who had been in the custody of security forces since 2008.

The petitioner said the requirement of fair trial had not been fulfilled in the case and that even the convict was not informed about the charges under which he was tried and convicted.

He requested the court to suspend the conviction of his brother until the final disposal of his petition.

The convict is currently kept in Timergara district prison in Lower Dir.

The petitioner prayed the court to direct the respondents, including defence and interior secretaries, to produce the record of the case saying the relevant authorities had been denying him even a copy of the judgment of the ‘so-called trial court’.

On Jan 1, the ISPR, media wing of the Pakistan Army, had announced the chief of the army staff had confirmed the death sentences awarded to nine ‘hardcore terrorists’ by the military courts.

About Mohammad Imran, it had said: “The convict was an active member of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. He was involved in terrorist acts and attacking law-enforcement agencies which caused death and injuries to civilians and soldiers. He’d admitted to his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on four charges and awarded death sentence.”

The petitioner said his brother had done intermediate education at the Islamia College Peshawar before studying at Karachi’s Jamia Binoria for four years.

He claimed he and his brother were permanent residents of Mohmand Agency and currently lived in Mardan district.

The petitioner said his brother was taken into custody in 2008 and thereafter, he remained incommunicado for few years.

He added that the family members were later allowed to meet him, while he was in custody.

The petitioner alleged that the security forces again stopped family members from meeting him and they hadn’t known anything about him for last few years.

He said he learned from media reports that his brother was convicted by a military court and that he didn’t know when and where his brother’s trial was conducted and that what charges he was tried for.

Since the establishment of the military courts following the passage of the Constitution (21st Amendment) Act in January 2015 for trying civilians involved in acts of terrorism, 40 people have been convicted for terrorism. Of these convicts, 37 were sentenced to death, whereas life imprisonment was handed down to the rest.

Eight of the convicts have so far been executed in Kohat district prison.

The high court has dismissed six petitions against convictions by military courts.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2016