Activist, 3 officers guilty of sedition

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani military courts have convicted a prominent rights activist and three retired army officers on charges of espionage and sedition, sentencing them to prison terms ranging from 12 to 14 years, two security officials said Friday.

The four were tried in unrelated cases. It was unclear when and where the proceedings took place, and the two security officers declined to provide details.

The activist, Idris Khattak, went missing while traveling in the country’s northwest in 2019 in what turned out to be a case of forced disappearance by Pakistani security agencies. For months, there was no information about him until authorities confirmed he was in custody.

Khattak was sentenced to 14 years, according to the two security officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the cases with the media.

The officials said he was accused of sharing “sensitive and important information” with a hostile intelligence agency and other individuals that led to several U.S. drone strikes in recent years in Pakistan’s restive former tribal regions. They said Khattak was given the right to defend himself through a lawyer.

The three retired officers — colonels Faiz Rasool and Mohammad Akmal and major Saifullah Babar — were given sentences of 14 years, 10 and 12 years, respectively. They were tried on “espionage charges and collaborating with hostile intelligence agencies,” one of the security officials said.

Last month, Amnesty International urged Pakistan to stop forcibly disappearing suspected militants and other suspects for years without trial, calling the practice “abhorrent.”