ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has categorically rejected the award of sentences to over two dozen civilians by the military courts in connection with last year’s 9 May violence, dismissing this move as unconstitutional and unlawful, and an attack on the independence of the judiciary— announcing to challenge the decisions of “kangaroo courts” in the superior courts.

“The decision to sentence civilians in military courts is fundamentally opposed to the principles of justice and fairness,” stated Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and senior PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan on Saturday.

“Those in custody are common citizens and cannot be tried by the military courts,” he said in a statement.

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The military courts that sentence civilians are kangaroo courts. Such courts do not have the legal authority to function as part of the state’s judicial power,“ he said.

“We strongly reject the decision of military courts to pass sentences on civilians, particularly the PTI officials and workers, who are in custody of the military,” the statement added.

Khan said the armed forces are an integral part of the state’s executive machinery, not its judicial apparatus.

The establishment of military courts to adjudicate matters involving ordinary citizens is an attack on the independence of the judiciary, and a direct violation of constitutional principles, Khan said.

“Such decisions undermine the fundamental structure of the constitution, which is based on the separation of powers,” he stated, citing a Supreme Court verdict in this regard.

Separately, senior PTI lawmaker and former speaker NA Asad Qaiser “vehemently condemned as a blatant violation of fundamental human rights and the principles of justice, the verdicts issued by the military courts against civilians.”

In a statement, he said, the trials conducted by the military courts failed to meet the requirements of natural justice.

“The decisions of military courts are a clear breach of fundamental human rights,” he said. “Justice has not been served in these trials, and we will challenge these decisions on every available forum available,” he reiterated.

Qaiser also expressed disappointment with the SC’s stance on the matter. “The Supreme Court’s decision has deeply disheartened us. It is unfortunate to see citizens being stripped of their basic constitutional rights,” he remarked.

The PTI leader warned that such actions would only deepen the sense of despair and disenfranchisement among the people. “When judicial institutions are compromised, public confidence erodes, and a wave of hopelessness spreads across the country,” he stated.

Separately, addressing a presser, PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja and senior party leader Latif Khosa also lambasted the military courts’ decisions to sentence 25 civilians as completely unconstitutional and unlawful. They also took on the role of SC’s constitutional bench in handling the issue.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024