Islamabad:
The opposition chief Omar Ayub Khan wrote a letter to the chief judge of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, calling him to intervene to ensure a fair trial of people tried in the anti-terrorist courts (ATCS) for their presumed role in riots after the judgment of May 9, 2023, the founder of PTI Imran Khan.
In the four -page “appeal”, the opposition chief, who belongs to the PTI, highlighted the alleged irregularities that occur during the May 9 trials. The ATCs are bound by the Supreme Court to conclude all these May 9 cases by the first week of August.
According to Omar, the integrity of Pakistan’s judicial process is seriously threatened because these trials, which are supposed to illustrate justice, have rather become a means of political persecution. “The ATCs in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha and other cities hear cases linked to May 9 with a speed and a way that shock the awareness of any impartial observer.
“The hearings start early in the morning and extend late at night; in fact, it is reported reliably that in some cases, the procedure continued until 2:00 am to 3:00.” It is crushed justice and justice buried under the weight of exhaustion, coercion and haste, “he added.
He declared that such a calendar was unprecedented in the annals of Pakistani case law, because it did not neglect the most basic principles of an equitable trial, including the law of the accused for a significant opportunity to prepare and present a defense, and the solemn obligation of the judiciary to carry out trials with dignity, transparency and impartiality of power.
He also referred to the motto of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that justice must not only be done, but it must be manifestly and without a doubt considered. He regretted that during the May 9 tests, this cardinal principle was systematically violated.
Omar said that managers, workers and PTI supporters were wrongly involved in a process that seemed to be politically Mala. Police reports and proceedings lack credible evidence and are riddled with procedural irregularities, he added.
He also told many cases of exceeding the procurements and police misconduct, in particular the manufacture of FIR, the coercive interrogation tactics and the selective registration of affairs against opposition personalities – all undergoing the rule of law and the confidence of the public in the judicial system.
Referring to the right to choice councils, he declared that a fundamental right devoted to article 10a of the Constitution had been trampled on. He said ATC frequently deny adjournment and, in many cases, threaten or proceed to appoint state councils without the consent of the accused.
“This practice not only inflicts constitutional guarantees, but also violates internationally recognized equitable trial standards., Including those stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 10) and the International Alliance on Civil and Political Rights (Article 14), to which Pakistan is a party,” he wrote.
“If these trials are authorized to continue in current conditions – assisted, secret and politically charged, damage to the judicial reputation of Pakistan and the confidence of the people will be irrevocable.”
