Pakistani civilians may be tried by military courts

By IANS

Islamabad : An ordinance will be promulgated to amend the Pakistan Army Act to enable military courts to try civilians, the country’s top law officer has said.


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“Some new offences would be added to the Army Act to cover civilians,” Attorney General Malik Qayyum said, adding that the ordinance would be signed in the next few days.

The amendments — covering offences like abduction, use of arms, and terrorism — would also redefine the role of the intelligence agencies “by giving them more powers of arbitrary detention”, The News said.

The amendments would allow the agencies to detain civilians “without framing any charges and to keep them in custody for an indefinite period”, it added.

This will be the second attempt since 1977 to include civilians within the ambit of the Army Act. The Lahore High Court had struck down an amendment made by the government of then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was deposed the same year by then army chief Gen. Zia-ul Haque.

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