A military court on Thursday commenced the trial of the hooligans involved in the attack on the residence of the corps commander that took place on May 09.
A private television reported saying Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore accepted the application of a commanding officer who sought the detention of the 16 suspects under military law. After granting permission to the officer the ATC directed the concerned authorities to hand over custody of the alleged perpetrators to the military. The accused persons, including former provincial assembly member Mian Akram Usman, are expected to face trial under the Army Act of 1952.
It has been mentioned in the court order that prosecution did not oppose the commander’s application. After hearing of the plea the ATC Judge issued directives to the superintendent of the Camp Jail to transfer the 16 inmates to the commander for further proceedings.
Sources claimed the suspects were Ammar Zohaib, Ali Iftikhar, Ali Raza, Muhammad Arsalan, Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Rahim, Ziaul Rehman, Waqas Ali, Rais Ahmed, Faisal Arshad, Muhammad Bilal, Fahim Haider, Arzam Junaid, Mian Akram Usman, Muhammad Hasher Khan and Hasan Shakir.
Earlier, the National Assembly on May 22 passed a resolution vowing to try rioters involved in the May 09 attacks on army and state installations under existing laws, including the Army Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif tabled the resolution which the House passed as a number of lawmakers voted in favour of it. The prime minister thanked the House for adopting a resolution against May 9 riots and explained that the cases pertaining to the attack on civilian infrastructure would be tried under anti-terrorism law but those concerning the military installations would be heard by the military courts and that no special laws were being promulgated for the purpose.
