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Safoora Goth, Sabeen Mahmud cases transferred to military courts
[DAWN] KARACHI: The Ministry of Interior has approved the transfer and trial of 18 cases, including the Safoora Goth massacre and the murder of Sabeen Mahmud, to military courts.Sources told Dawn the interior ministry has sanctioned 18 cases of Sindh for trial "strictly as per law under the Army Act 1952, as amended". The suspects to be tried in military courts are namely, Saad Aziz, Tahir Hussain Minhas, Asad Rehman, Hafiz Nasir Ahmed, Azhar Ishrat, Sultan Qumar Siddiqui, Hussain Umer Siddiqui, Naeem Sajid and Hafiz Umer. The cases were earlier referred to the federal interior ministry by the home department of the provincial government. Saad Aziz is among the prime suspects in both the Safoora Goth carnage and the murder of rights activist Sabeen Mahmud. In October, an antiterrorism court was informed that due to security concerns, the trial of the Safoora Goth bus carnage case would be conducted inside the central prison. The home department through a notification had informed the ATC-I that the trial of the suspects would be conducted inside the prison because of security reasons. Sindh police in August had planned to send 35 cases of terrorist activities allegedly carried out by Safoora Goth bus attack suspects, believed to be local operatives of self-styled Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... , to military courts, official sources say. The Sindh police had decided to 're-examine' all terrorism-related cases on the basis of severity of the crime before recommending them to the home department in the wake of Supreme Court decision in favour of military courts. Safoora Goth massacre Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin, Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Sain, Asad-ur-Rehman alias Malik, Hafiz Nasir alias Yasir and Mohammad Azhar Ishrat alias Majid are facing trial for their involvement in the killing of 45 Ismaili community members, including 18 women, in a assassination on a bus near Safoora Goth on May 13. At least 43 people were killed and 13 others maimed when gunnies opened fire inside a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community near Safoora Chowk in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... . The gunnies used 9mm pistols in the massacre, and managed to flee after the attack. Sabeen Mahmud's murder Earlier in April this year, prominent rights activist and co-founder and director of The Second Floor (T2F), Sabeen Mahmud was rubbed out by unidentified gunnies in Karachi. Sabeen, accompanied by her mother, left T2F after 9pm and was on her way home when she was shot by unidentified gunnies in Defence Phase-II, sources confirmed. She died on her way to the hospital. Doctors said they retrieved five bullets from her body. Her mother also sustained bullet wounds and was said to be at death's door, but survived the wounds. Posted by: Fred 2015-12-12 |
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