ISLAMABAD, The Islamabad Supreme Court has suspended the execution of five former Pakistan Navy officers who were sentenced to death by a military court in connection with the 2014 Pakistan Navy dockyard attack.
Dawn News reported that Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday issued written orders for the hearing that was held the previous day at the request of the naval officers, who had alleged that they were not given legal assistance during the court-martial order.
A naval tribunal had convicted five naval officers arrested in 2016 in connection with the naval dockyard attack.
They were convicted of assault and conspiracy against the naval leadership.
The Karachi Naval Shipyard was attacked in September 2014. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the banned militant group, the Pakistani Taliban Movement.
Two militants and one naval officer were killed in the attack, the Pakistan Navy said in a statement at the time, and four attackers had been arrested.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that documents permitted to be shared with their clients, such as evidence summaries and court of inquiry records, were also not shared with the petitioner.
The lawyers argue that appeals against the death sentences were filed and rejected without access to these documents, adding that the petitioners were not told why the appeals court upheld the sentences.
The lawyers also said that despite court orders, access to documents was restricted, which prevented the petitioners from defending their rights.
Meanwhile, Additional Attorney General Akhil Akhtar Raja said Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf had the power to inspect the documents and that Article 193 of the Pakistan Navy Rules, 1961, gave him the discretion to form “an opinion that the service of any process may be detrimental to the security or interest of the nation”.
The AAG said in light of the above rules, the Navy Commander had formed the view that sharing details of the proceedings in these cases, including the sentences recorded in the court martial and the appellate court rulings upholding the death penalty, would be “prejudicial to the security and interest of the nation”.
When asked whether the opinion of the Navy Commander had been filed, the AAG replied in the negative and Additional Advocate General Hamid Hayat said it would be made available at the Pakistan Navy Headquarters.
The Islamabad High Court directed that “the petitioner shall not be executed until his petition is disposed of as fundamental issues of right to life and protection of due process are at stake.”
The order directed the respondents to file within three weeks the opinion of the Navy Commander along with reasons why they have formed the opinion that public disclosure of the proceedings against the petitioners would be prejudicial to the interest of the state.
The case has reportedly been adjourned until July 1.
This article has been generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
