LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Friday handed down six-year imprisonment to another senior leader of Jamatud Dawa (JuD) in a terror financing case.

Announcing the verdict in FIR No. 26, Presiding Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta sentenced Muhammad Ashraf for the imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs10,000.

The other day, the court had convicted JuD Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and its leaders, including Malik Zafar Iqbal, Yahya Mujahid and Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, in two FIRs.

Makki was jailed for six months while three others were awarded a collective imprisonment of ten-and-a-half-year in each case.

The judge convicted the JuD leaders under sections 11F(2), 11(i)(2) and 11(j)(i) read with section 11-N of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. All the convicts were present in the court when the judge announced the verdict.

Mr Saeed and other leaders of the organization had been under detention since July 2019.

The JuD leaders have been convicted in several FIRs of terror financing while trial proceedings in several others were pending adjudication.

The Counter Terrorism Department of Punjab had registered 41 FIRs against the JuD leaders in different cities. The trial courts have so far decided 25 cases.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2020