Safoora Goth carnage, Sabeen Mahmud's murder: Convicts challenge death sentences

The convicts of Safoora Goth carnage and Sabeen Mahmud murder cases on Wednesday challenged their death sentences before the Military Court of Appeal. Five hardcore terrorists - Tahir Minhas, Saad Aziz, Asadur Rehman, Mohammad Azhar Ishrat and Hafiz Nasir Ahmed in connection with nine cases of terrorism including Safoora Goth carnage and Sabeen Mahmud murder case were awarded death sentence by the Military Court, which was also confirmed by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on May 12, 2016.
Hashmat Ali Habib, the counsel for five convicts challenged the death sentence before the Military Court of Appeal. The convicts in the appeal contended before the Appellate Court that the federal government did not transfer their cases to the Military Court in accordance with the procedure defined in the Protection of Pakistan Act (PoPA).
It stated, "The statement of Chief Minister Sindh, Federal Minister for Interior, the Prime Minister and CoAS's appreciation are conclusive proof of the fact that the accused were under custody prior to May 20, 2015 when the police registered an FIR against them saying that the accused were arrested after an encounter". The appeal alleged that the Military authorities did not provide them opportunity of engaging lawyer as per their choice which makes the trial going against the spirit of Article 10-A of the Constitution which ensures fair trial.
The appeal alleged that the joint investigation report on Safoora Goth and Sabeen Mahmud murder cases was based on concocted story forged for political gains. After hearing the preliminary arguments, the Military Court of Appeal adjourned the hearing till second week of July. Minhas was the alleged mastermind of the Safoora Goth terrorist attack in which 47 Shia Ismaili community members were killed including women near Safoora Goth on May 13.