LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar on Thursday said that the persons involved in a direct attack on military installations could be prosecuted under the Pakistan Army Act 1952.

When asked about his opinion on the government’s decision to invoke the Army Act against the miscreants involved in the May 9 riots, the senator told reporters at the Lahore High Court that civilians directly involved in the attacks on military installations could be tried under the special law.

“The Army Act is our law. Military officials and civilians working at army installations can be tried under it. And civilians can also be tried under the same law for attacking an army installation,” the lawyer explained to the reporters.

However, he maintained that only those civilians directly and personally involved in the attacks on military installations and properties could be tried under the Army Act. He said it was not like that any civilian could be charged or prosecuted under the special law for conspiring to wage the attacks.

Later, Senator Zafar posted a tweet with a changed opinion on the matter.

“Trial in the military courts of persons involved in physically damaging the government property as a result of riots, etc. (whether used by armed forces) can only take place in normal criminal courts and any trial under the army act would be in violation of the Constitution and fair trial,” he tweeted.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2023