Lahore
An antiterrorism court in Lahore on Saturday announced that it would indict chief of banned Jamaatud Dawa Hafiz Saeed and other JuD leaders who were booked in July for offences pertaining to terror financing on December 7.
Saeed, along with deputy emir Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Hafiz Abdul Salam bin Muhammad, Professor Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Yahya Aziz, and others were produced before the court under strict security arrangement.
According to Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Rauf Watoo, the court was provided copies of the nearly two dozen cases registered against the JuD leaders during today’s hearing which was presided over by Judge Malik Arshad Bhutta.
“As per the law, after the provision of copies to the court, the trial begins. The first step of a trial is indictment,” explained DPG Watoo. The state’s counsel requested the court to hold daily hearings since the copies had been provided. At this, the lawyers for the JuD leaders, Naseeruddin Nayyar and Muhammad Imran Gul, argued that they be given a week’s time so that they can carefully examine the documents and prepare their arguments.
