Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
persons allegedly picked up by the intelligence agencies from Butkhela, Malakand, in 2009 and 2010 were produced before the Supreme Court for the first time on Friday after their arrest.
A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
government to produce the two accused before it on May 2. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir, Home Secretary Azam Khan and Additional Advocate General (AAG) Naveed Akhtar appeared before the apex court that had taken up the petition moved by right activists Asma Jehangir.
One of the detainees, Muhammad Ibrahim, was locked away
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
on n September 11, 2010, from Butkhela, whereas the other, Hidayat Shah, was arrested on December 23, 2009. Both were later sent to the internment centres set up under the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulations (AACPR) 2011 promulgated by President Asif Ali
Ten PercentZardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
in exercise of his powers under Article 247 of the constitution.
These internment centres set up under AACPR near Pak-Afghan border in the
Orakzai Agency... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers...
allow the civil government to confine persons accused of terrorism. Asma described the AACPR law as worse than the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act introduced by India in 1985. According to the prosecution both the accused are residents of Butkhela -- an area that is situated in the jurisdiction of the PATA (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas). According to a statement submitted by the home secretary, the internment authorities had recommended the trial of both accused under terrorism charges after weapons were recovered from their possession, but they were later sent to the internment centres.
The apex court, however, expressed its surprise over why the accused were not sent to the courts to face trials and noted that all during the detention, the family members of these accused were not allowed to meet them. However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
the home secretary assured the apex court during the proceedings that the family members of the accused would be allowed to meet them. The court directed the AAG to regulate the meetings between the accused and the family members and submit a report to the registrar of the Supreme Court for perusal by judges in chambers.