Jamaatud dawa Hafiz Saeed indicted by Anti-Terrorism court in terror financing case

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-1) headed by judge Malik Arshad Bhutta on Wednesday indicted Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jamaatud Dawa and its four other leaders in an offence of terror financing.

Hafiz Saeed, the chief of the proscribed JuD and four other leaders were booked in July for offences pertaining to terror financing. All the accused were presented before the court today under strict security protocol.

During the proceedings, Saeed’s lawyer presented arguments against the indictment.

After filing charges, the court summoned the prosecution’s witnesses. ATC-I judge Malik Arshad Bhutta, who heard the case, adjourned proceedings until tomorrow.

On Saturday, the court had delayed the indictment owing to unavailability of one of the suspects in a case registered by the Counterterrorism Department (CTD) on charges of terror financing.

All accused deny allegations against them as being baseless and a result of international pressure on the Pakistan government. The accused claimed that they have been charged in cases by wrongly attributing them as leaders of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

They plead it was an admitted fact supported by superior courts’ decisions that they had already quit the LeT before the organisation was proscribed in 2002. They argue the cases against them have been made on the basis of a link to defunct Al-Nifal Trust which, they claim, was formed to construct mosques in the country. They say the CTD registered cases without any substantive evidence.

On July 3, the top 13 leaders of the JuD were booked in nearly two dozen cases pertaining to terror financing and money laundering under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997.

The CTD, which registered the cases in five cities of Punjab, declared that the JuD was financing terrorism from the massive funds collected through non-profit organisations and trusts including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muaz Bin Jabal Trust, etc.

These non-profit organisations were banned in April as the CTD, during detailed investigations, found that they had links with the JuD and its top leadership.

Subsequently, on July 17, Saeed was arrested from Gujranwala on charges of terror financing by the Punjab CTD. He was sent to prison on judicial remand after the CTD presented him before a Gujranwala ATC.

In February, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had warned Pakistan to deliver on its commitments to curb terror financing and money laundering.

Risks to the global financial system virtually put the country’s entire machinery into an aggressive mode to show tangible progress within two months of the warning.

In late February, the government announced a ban on JuD and Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation to partially address the concerns raised by India that Pakistan supported these and six similar organisations, including Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), or at least considered them low-risk entities.

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