Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani has opposed the trial of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters under the Army Act for attacking defence installations and damaging public properties following the party chief Imran Khan’s arrest in a graft case on May 9.
\n\u201c…no leniency should be shown towards those who attacked, burnt and looted public and defence installations under a political agenda,\u201d the PPP senator said in a statement on Wednesday.
\nHis statement comes a day after the high-powered National Security Committee (NSC) endorsed the Corps Commander Conference’s decision to hold the trial of arsonists under the Army Act, Official Secrets Act, and other concerned laws under the Constitution.
\nSenator Rabbani said a criminal justice system was present with special anti-terrorist laws and courts. \u201cBeing civilians the planners, abetters and attackers should be tried under this system.\u201d
\nHe said civilians must not be tried under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, as such trials would raise the question of transparency and draw the debate in a direction that will generate sympathy.
\nThe PPP leader further said it was against the fundamental rights in the Constitution and added that this had been his constant position on this issue.
\nSuch trials of arson and burning under the Army Act, 1952, will be challenged before the superior courts and are likely to be found not in accordance with law, he added.
\nReferring to the establishment of military courts to try terrorists, the senator said a one-time amendment was made by Parliament in 2015, which was also not a correct decision, but that too has lapsed.
\nHe urged the coalition government to rethink the question of the trial of civilians under the Army Act, but not let up on awarding the strictest sentences under the criminal justice system.
\nA day earlier, a statement issued by the Prime Minister House, said the NSC, while strongly condemning military installations’ acts of arson for the sake of political motives and personal interests, declared to observe May 9 as \u2018Black Day\u2019 at the national level.
\nThe participants of the NSC meeting expressed complete solidarity and support for the armed forces. The meeting expressed the resolve that desecration and military installations and public property were intolerable and pledged to bring all the culprits to task.
\nEarlier on Monday, a Special Corps Commanders\u2019 Conference with Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir in the chair had also expressed the resolve to hold the trial of abettors, planners and miscreants involved in attacks on military installations and public property under the Army Act and the Official Secret Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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