Islamabad [Pakistan], December 22 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced plans to contest the milit court convictions of its supporters at all possible platforms, describing the trials of individuals accused in the May 9 incidents as a blatant violation of fundamental human rights and principles of justice, according to a report by Dawn.
Meanwhile, the government defended the convictions as a demonstration of justice, with the information minister Attaullah Tarar asserting that all those involved in the May 9 unrest following the arrest of PTI leader Imran Khan would not be spared.
In a statement posted on PTI founder Imran Khan’s X on Saturday, he urged international organisations to take notice of the “miscarriage of justice committed in the name of milit trials.”The post said, “May 9 — An organised milit conspiracy against Imran Khan and the PTI. Punishing innocent citizens who themselves plotted the May 9 false flag operation by acting as judge, jury, and executioner through a milit trial is a blatant violation of human rights. International organisations should take notice of the miscarriage of justice committed in the name of milit trials.”Meanwhile, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, in a statement, highlighted that the trials conducted by milit courts failed to meet the requirements of natural justice.
“The decisions of milit courts are a clear breach of fundamental human rights. Justice has not been served in these trials, and we will challenge these decisions on every forum available. The Supreme Court’s decision has deeply disheartened us. It is unfortunate to see citizens being stripped of their basic constitutional rights,” he said, Dawn reported.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan stated that the sentences handed down by milit courts to PTI detainees are a violation of justice and argued that civilians cannot be subjected to trials in milit courts, labelling such proceedings as illegitimate and similar to kangaroo courts.
In a post on X on Saturday, Omar Ayub Khan wrote, “The sentences announced by milit courts against PTI detainees are repugnant to the norms of justice. The detainees are civilians and cannot be tried by milit courts. Milit courts trying and sentencing civilians are basically kangaroo courts.””Milit courts cannot lawfully share the judicial power of the State because the armed forces are part of the executive authority of State and the creation of such courts to try civilians for ordin civil offenses ‘not only militates against the independence of judici but it also negates the principle of trichotomy of power which is the basic feature of the Constitution’ (PLD 1999 SC 504), the post added.” (ANI)
