Court awards 10-year prison terms to Saeed, other JUD leaders
LAHORE: An Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) in Punjab province has awarded 10-year imprisonment to Jamaat-ud-dawa ( JUD) chief Hafiz Saeed and other top leaders of the organisation in at least two cases related to terror-financing.
The sentences for the two charges - five years each — will run concurrently.
As per the court order, the authorities have been directed to confiscate the properties of Hafiz Saeed along with the imposition of Rs10,000 fine. Abdul Rehman Makki, brother-in-law of Saeed and second in command in JUD, has also been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for being an accomplice to the terror-funding cases.
Other than the above mentioned leaders of JUD, Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Mujahid have also been sentenced to 10.5 years’ imprisonment each by the anti-terrorism court.
The case, filed by the Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), was heard by Judge Arshad Hussain Bhuta of the Lahore Anti-terrorism Court No.1.
Saeed is already in jail serving two sentences of five-and-a-half-years each, handed down to him in February this year, which means he will not serve any extra jail time.
“An anti-terrorism court in Lahore sentenced ten-and-a-half years imprisonment to chief of Jamaat-ud-dawa Hafiz Saeed, his deputy Zafar Iqbal, and spokesman Yahya Mujahid on charges of terror financing,” Saeed’s lawyer Imran Fazal Gill told Reuters. Jammaat-ud-dawa is a charity run by Saeed.
“Since the convict has already been convicted ... by this court vide judgment dates 12.02.2020, so the punishment awarded to him in this case shall also run concurrently with punishment in said cases,” said the court order which was seen by Reuters. Appeals have been filed against previous sentences, Gill said. The verdict was announced ater cross-examination of witnesses’ statements, which later brought the court to the conclusion that the accused were proven guilty.
The latest verdict is part of at least 23 cases registered against Saeed and the members of his organisation in 2019 by the CTD with charges of terror-financing, terror-facilitation and terror-funding through various umbrella oufits working under the supervision of JUD.