The four suspects were convicted under the anti-terrorism law of 1997. (Representation)
Lahore:
A Pakistani counterterrorism court sentenced four banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) top executives and close associates of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack master Hafiz Saeed on Thursday for up to five years. terrorist financing.
Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Yayha Aziz and Abdul Salam were charged on June 9.
Iqbal and Aziz were sentenced to five years in prison while Makki and Salam to one year each.
Makki is the brother-in-law of the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and head of JuD Saeed.
“The Lahore counter-terrorism court has condemned the leaders of JuD and Lashkar-e-Taiaba (LeT) – Malik Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Aziz, Abdul Rehman Makki and Abdus Salam – for funding terrorism after their indictment on June 9. ” A spokesman for the Department of Counterterrorism (CTD) said in a statement.
ATC also imposed a fine of 50,000 rupees each on the four convicts, failing which they will have to undergo an additional six months in prison.
The four suspects were convicted under the 1997 Counter Terrorism Act.
“The court found JuD / LeT leaders guilty of the terrorist financing offense. They had illegally raised funds and funded the proscribed organization LeT. The court also ordered the confiscation of assets from the funds raised through terrorist financing, “said the CTD. .
The four had pleaded “not guilty” and chose to challenge the verdict.
The court announced the verdict after the prosecution presented witnesses and relevant evidence against them.
Three convicts – Iqbal, Aziz and Salam – are also UN appointees involved in the financing of terrorism.
“Their conviction will play a major role in verifying the financing of terrorism in Pakistan,” said the CTD.
Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist to whom the United States paid a $ 10 million bonus, was arrested on July 17, 2019 and is being held at the Kot Lakhpat high security prison here.
The JuD led by Saeed is the lead organization of the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for the Mumbai attack in 2008, which killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The United States has appointed Saeed as a specially designated global terrorist, and the United States, since 2012, has offered a $ 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. He was listed as a terrorist under United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 in December 2008.
In February, the Lahore counter-terrorism court sentenced Saeed and his close associate Zafar Iqbal to five and a half years and fined Rs 15,000 in each case.
A total of 11 years in prison will be executed simultaneously.
The crackdown on Saeed’s attire last year followed a warning by the international terrorist financing watchdog in Pakistan to honor its commitments to curb terrorist financing and money laundering.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
