KARACHI, Jan 15: Three militants of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami were convicted for an unsuccessful attempt to kill President Pervez Musharraf in 2002 while three other accused were found not guilty by an anti-terrorism court on Tuesday.

ATC Judge Ghulam Ali Samtio pronounced his verdict inside the Central Prison Karachi where the retrial of the case was held due to security reasons.

The court sentenced Harkat chief Mohammad Imran, his deputy Mohammad Hanif and the outfit’s treasurer Mohammad Ashraf to life imprisonment as they were found guilty of all charges.

A fine of Rs110,000 was also imposed on each convict and in case of default they would undergo imprisonment for an additional six months.

However, the court exonerated three others namely Waseem Akhtar (a former inspector of Rangers), Mohammad Jamil and Arsalan alias Sharib for want of sufficient evidence against them. The court ordered that they be released forthwith if not required in any other case.

The trio of Imran, Hanif and Ashraf were sentenced on the basis of their confessional statements which they had recorded before a judicial magistrate admitting their role in hatching a conspiracy to kill the president.

Both Imran and Hanif had recorded their statement on July 17, 2002 before a judicial magistrate confessing that they along with their other accomplices had tried to kill President Musharraf for his anti-Taliban and pro-US policies. Mohammad Ashraf, the third militant, was arrested on July 26, 2002. He voluntarily confessed to his role in the case on July 27, 2002.

Special public prosecutors Niamat Ali Randhawa and Mazhar Qayum had submitted before the court that the three confessional statements were given voluntarily, true and without any coercion, torture and compulsion and, therefore, the accused should be convicted.

However, the three other accused were acquitted as the prosecution could not prove its case against them, particularly for want of circumstantial evidence against them which could corroborate the prosecution case. They were tried on the basis of confessional statements of their co-accused as they had not confessed to their alleged role before any judicial magistrate.

According to the prosecution, the Harkat militants were against the policies of President Musharraf, who at that time also held the office of the Chief of Army Staff, and, therefore, they had planned to assassinate him during his visit to Karachi in April 2002.

They had planned to blow up the presidential cavalcade while it was passing through Sharea Faisal. On April 24, 2002 they parked an explosives-laden vehicle near Falaknaz Plaza in the Airport police jurisdiction to blow it up through a remote-controlled device. However, the device failed to set off the explosives as the presidential convoy passed on Sharea Faisal.

Later, Imran and Hanif were arrested and confessed that they had planned to kill the president. Along with the other accused, they were tried before an ATC which on October 18, 2003 sentenced the trio to 10 years in prison and acquitted Waseem Akhtar and Arsalan alias Sharib.

The conviction was challenged by the Harkat militants before an anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court which in November 2006 ruled that the trial was conducted on wrong facts and charges and sent the case back to the ATC for retrial with the observation that the alleged conspiracy of the appellants was to commit murder and that they should have been, therefore, proceeded against for the said offence by framing a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

At that time the trial court had indicted the accused persons under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA) and Sections 324 and 120-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The high court bench observed that a perusal of confessions of the appellants revealed that the conspiracy hatched to commit a murder but the charge was framed for ‘conspiracy to commit attempt to murder’ and conviction was awarded to the appellants on the said offence.

Setting aside the conviction, the appellate bench sent the case to the ATC for retrial with the direction that the matter be initiated from framing of charges under Section 7 of the ATA read with Clause 3 of the schedule of offences and under Sections 120-B and 302 of the PPC.

No action against security personnel

By convicting the three top leaders of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami, the court has accepted the prosecution story that the accused parked an explosives-laden vehicle in the route of President Musharraf.

Senior police officials, however, considered it a serious security lapse on the part of all those responsible for the protection of the VVIP.

Despite a lapse of six years since the incident took place, no departmental inquiry or action has been initiated against the officials concerned who failed to detect the explosives-laden vehicle on the route of President Musharraf. It was the joint responsibility of the police and the military intelligence to ensure security on the route of the president, who was also the army chief at that time.

The officials were of the view that a thorough inquiry must be conducted to place the responsibility of the security lapse and stern action be taken against the officials concerned.