Two JeM men sentenced to 10 years in prison

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday sentenced two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) activists to 10 years in prison for raising funds for the banned outfit.

Kashif Siddique and Rashid Iqbal were arrested by the Punjan Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Attock district on Aug 7 last year, along with a money box placed near a mosque.

The CTD officials found Rs210 in the box and seized empty cash receipts, membership cards, books and pamphlets related to JeM, led by Maulana Masood Azhar.

Public prosecutor Imran Qaiser informed the ATC that Siddique and Iqbal were not only openly raising funds for the banned outfit, but also inviting people to join the group.

In 2014, the Punjab home department, through a notification, had placed Iqbal in the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 and they were under surveillance of law enforcement agencies.

According to the court’s documents, an FIR was also registered against Iqbal under Section 9 of the ATA for delivering hate speech.

The prosecutor requested the court to punish the two accused for raising funds and inviting people to join the banned outfit.

ATC Judge Rai Mohammad Ayub Khan Marth awarded 10 years imprisonment each to Siddique and Iqbal under sections 11-F (membership, support and meetings relating to a proscribed organisation) and 11-H (fund-raising for banned outfit) of the ATA.

This is perhaps the first time that the JeM men from Attock have been convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

A senior criminal law expert Ahsanuddin Sheikh said the JeM had little presence in Attock, but people belonging to the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) were active in the district.

According to him, the attack on Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada had the backing of LJ, but there is low conviction rate of the activists belonging to the banned outfits in Attock.

The JeM has come into limelight after the Jan 2 terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase in India. The CTD Gujranwala had on Feb 18 registered an FIR in connection with the attack.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has reportedly admitted that one of the mobile phone numbers linked to those who had attacked the Pathankot airbase had been traced to the JeM’s headquarters in Bahawalpur. He also confirmed the media reports that JeM chief Masood Azhar had been under protective custody since Jan 14.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2016