PESHAWAR – The Peshawar High Court has turned down the decision of the Military Court regarding the death penalty to the former spokesman of the TTP Swat Chapter, Muslim Khan.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday stayed the execution of former spokesman for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s Swat chapter, Muslim Khan.
The PHC bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ijaz Anwer issued the order after a preliminary hearing of a petition filed by Nida Bibi, wife of Khan, challenging the conviction of her husband by the military court on multiple charges of terrorism.
The bench issued notices to the ministries of defence and interior directing them to submit the record of the case and fixed June 1 for the next hearing.
Muslim Khan’s counsel, Advocate Tariq Asad, put forward different objections to the trial of Khan under the Army Act.
He said that Khan was taken into custody by security forces in Sept 2009 after which nothing was known about him until 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 sentenced to death.