Pak court stays execution awarded by military court to Taliban leader

Peshawar [Pakistan], May 26 (ANI): The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has stayed the execution of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's Swat chapter's former spokesman Muslim Khan, who was sentenced to death last year by a military court on multiple charges of terrorism. The PHC bench issued the order on Thursday after a preliminary hearing of a petition filed by the wife of the accused, Nida Bibi, challenging the conviction of her husband by the military court, reports the Dawn. The bench also issued notices to the Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry directing them to submit the record of the case and fixed June 1 for the next hearing. The counsel for the petitioner said that Khan was taken into custody by security forces in Sept 2009 after which nothing was known about him. Finally, his family came to know about his conviction through newspapers in Dec 2016. The counsel said that the family had not been provided record of the trial proceedings and it was not known under what charges Khan had been convicted. They submitted an application to the military court of appeal seeking details of the trial proceedings, but no reply was given to them. He added that Khan was not provided a counsel of his own choice and was denied fair trial as provided under article 10-A of the Constitution. The counsel said that the convict had remained in custody of security forces for seven years and it was not known under what conditions he had been kept. Apparently the proceedings of the military court were one-sided, he argued. (ANI)