Pakistan military trial of most of 103 May 9 suspects almost complete: Report

The military trials of most of the 103 civilians, allegedly involved in the May 9 attacks on key defence installations across Pakistan, are almost complete, and in 90 per cent of cases, the suspects have been found guilty, according to a media report on Tuesday. Jailed former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party founder Imran Khan, 71, and hundreds of his party colleagues are being tried under multiple cases, including one under the stringent Official Secrets Act in connection with the May 9 violent protests by his supporters that damaged key military installations across Pakistan. “The military trials of most of 103 civilians, allegedly involved in May 9 attacks, have almost been completed. In around 90 per cent of such cases, the suspects have been found involved in the May 9 attacks on military installations,” The News International newspaper reported, quoting an informed government source. However, the verdicts in these cases are not being announced because of the Supreme Court’s order, it said. Khan’s party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander House), Mianwali Airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. Convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case, Khan is incarcerated at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Earlier on January 6, the Pakistan government set up a cabinet committee to find out the masterminds, plotters, facilitators, and executioners of the May 9 violent incidents, called a “criminal conspiracy” by the police. The committee report, expected to be submitted in 14 days, will give recommendations for stopping such incidents in the future and review the immediate and long-lasting impacts of the May 9 incidents. The Supreme Court, in mid-December 2023, had adjourned the hearing of the case till the third week of January 2024. Before that, while suspending its prior decision to invalidate the military trials of 103 civilians, the apex court had conditionally allowed these trials. The Supreme Court had observed that the military courts would not issue a verdict against the suspects till its final ruling on the matter. The majority 5-1 verdict, reached by a six-member bench, was the consequence of a series of intra-court appeals, contesting the previous unanimous ruling nullifying the military trials. These appeals were filed by the caretaker federal government and the provincial governments of Balochistan, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Earlier in October 2023, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had declared the trial of civilians in military courts as null and void and had ordered that the 103 accused in cases relating to the violence on May 9 and 10, 2023 be tried under the ordinary criminal laws.“The court had also declared certain clauses of the Army Act as ultra vires the Constitution and of no legal effect,” The News said. The verdict had not only upset the government for nullifying the military trial of 103 May 9 suspects but more so because of striking down certain tough Army Act provisions, which were part of the statute for the last over five decades. Under the Army Act, innumerable civilians have been tried during the past five decades. Those found guilty by military courts not only have the option of challenging their convictions within the military setup but they can also appeal in high courts and later in the Supreme Court, the newspaper explained. During Imran Khan’s government, nearly two dozen civilians were convicted by the military courts. Against their convictions, these civilians had filed petitions in high courts, it said.