Islamabad: A recent example of how Pakistan defeats terrorists has been re-seen in a court verdict there. Mumbai attacks mastermind Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and six lashkar-e-taiba terrorists have been acquitted by a Lahore court. All of them were sentenced for funding terrorism. According to the report, the Lahore High Court on Saturday rejected the conviction of six senior leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its main organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) in the case on the ground that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge of funding terrorism.
At the conclusion of the meeting on October 21, FATF had retained Pakistan in its "grey list" and asked Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups declared terrorists by the United Nations (UN) and its leaders and commanders. In April, an anti-terror court in Lahore sentenced top Lashkar and Jamaat-ud-Dawa leaders Malik Zafar Iqbal, Yahya Mujahid, Nasrullah, Samiullah and Omar Bahadur to nine years in jail and Abdul Rahman Makki to six months in prison.
Makki is also the husband of the sister of Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed. The Lahore High Court on Saturday quashed his conviction and acquitted all six people. An unnamed court official told the media that the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against the men. The court also observed that the statement of the prosecution's main witness was not credible as there was 'no evidence' of it. A bench of Chief Justice Muhammad Amir Bhatti and Justice Tariq Salim Sheikh pronounced the verdict. It may be recalled that in 2008, the Taj Hotel in Mumbai was attacked by Jamaat-ud-Dawa terrorists, killing more than 160 civilians, including six US citizens.
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