Sunday, December 12, 2021

Civilian teacher at military school tried by Pakistani court-martial

Dawn reports here about the court-martial of a civilian lecturer at the Pakistan Air Force College. His offense -- said to be a violation of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 -- was to record a phone call in which he congratulated one of his former students who had shot down an Indian Air Force aircraft, then circulating the recording of the call to others. Excerpt:

[T]he call lasted two minutes and 27 seconds, during which Mr [Hafiz Farooq Ahmed] Khan exchanged congratulatory remarks with the pilot, who stated on his own, without being questioned by the petitioner, that whatever was being shown on media was not even 30pc and that there had been 350 casualties on ground.

The petition then explained how the call got leaked and went viral on social media.

Mr Khan has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking to overturn his conviction.

The trial of civilians by military courts is strongly disfavored under international human rights jurisprudence.

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