Pak court adjourns verdict against Hafiz Saeed in 2 terror financing cases till Feb 18

Islamabad [Pakistan], Feb 11 (ANI): A Pakistani anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of two terror financing cases involving Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Mumbai terror attack mastermind, till February 18.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Qasim Khan will hear the case on February 18, according to The Express Tribune.
The ATC was to announce its verdict against the JuD chief on Saturday.
Saeed is nominated in 29 cases pertaining to terror financing, money laundering as well as illegal land grabbing. The verdict was reserved against him in two cases on February 6, Dawn News said in a report.
On February 8, the ATC delayed announcing its verdict in the terror financing cases and had decided to hear arguments on February 11 on the application to hear all cases first before announcing the verdict.
The court, earlier today, accepted a plea seeking the simultaneous hearing and verdict of six cases against the JuD chief that were pending before the same court, adding that in four of these cases presentation of evidence was in progress.
The terror financing cases were filed by the Counter-Terrorism Department's (CTD) Lahore and Gujranwala chapters. The case filed by CTD's Gujranwala chapter was initially being heard in a Gujranwala ATC but was shifted to Lahore on the directions of the Lahore High Court.
During the trial of both cases, the court recorded the statements of 23 witnesses.
The JuD chief was arrested by CTD in July last year, while he was travelling from Lahore to Gujranwala.
According to the CTD, JuD was financing terrorism from the massive funds collected through non-profit organisations and trusts including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muaz Bin Jabal Trust, and others.
These non-profit organisations were banned in April last year as the CTD, during detailed investigations, found that they had links with the JuD and its top leadership.
The crackdown on JuD last year followed a warning by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to Pakistan to deliver on its commitments to curb terror financing and money laundering. (ANI)