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PESHAWAR, May 12: Banned militant organization Lashkar-i-Taiba’s 16 activists have challenged before the court of Frontier Crimes Regulations commissioner an order of the Bajaur Agency assistant political agent (APA), whereby they had been detained at Haripur prison.
The APA had ordered that either they should submit bail bonds of Rs500,000 each as a surety for keeping peace in the area or they would remain in prison for three years under the FCR.
The appeal filed in Kohat by Advocate Syed Shah Bukhari stated that the amount of bail was very high. FCR Commissioner Syed Asmat Ali Shah fixed May 23 for hearing the appeal here.
Most of these activists belong to Lahore, Multan and other cities of Punjab.
The activists had reportedly gone to Afghanistan to support the Taliban in the United States war against terrorism. They were arrested while returning to Pakistan via Bajaur Agency.
HEARING ADJOURNED: The commissioner adjourned to May 29 hearing of an appeal of 25 activists of defunct Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM), challenging their conviction by the Kurram Agency APA.
The commissioner had asked for the judicial record of the case, which had not arrived on Saturday.
The activists were convicted on March 30 to seven years imprisonment under the Passport Act, Explosive Substance Act, Customs Act and Kurram Rewaj Order regarding ban on possession and display of arms and ammunition.
The appellants had accompanied chief of the TNSM, Maulana Sufi Mohammad, to Afghanistan. When they returned after the fall of the Taliban government, they were arrested in Kurram Agency. At least 30 persons, including Sufi Mohammad and his son, were convicted by the APA in his capacity as additional district magistrate.
The appellants preferred an appeal under the FCR, but Maulana Sufi, his son and three other activists refused to file an appeal and termed the trial court and the laws un-Islamic.
If the commissioner turns down the appeal, the activists have the remedy of filing review petition before the FCR Tribunal comprising the provincial home and law secretaries.
