Lieutenant general sentenced to prison, brigadier and civilian to death for espionage: ISPR

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has endorsed the sentences of two Army officers and a civilian on charges of espionage, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.

According to the military's media wing, the three men — Lieutenant General (retd) Javed Iqbal, Brigadier (retd) Raja Rizwan, and Dr Wasim Akram, an employee at a sensitive organization — were convicted of espionage activities and leaking sensitive information to foreign spy agencies.

"The officers were tried under Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and Official Secret Act by separate Field General Court Marshal (FGCM) for separate cases," the ISPR said.

According to the details handed out by the ISPR, Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Iqbal was awarded 14 years rigorous imprisonment.

Brigadier (retd) Raja Rizwan and Dr Wasim Akram were awarded death sentences.

The statement did not contain any further details of the offences committed by the three convicts, but Director General ISPR Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor had confirmed the arrests of the senior officers in a press conference on February 22 this year.

"There are two officers who are under military custody on the charges of espionage. The Army chief has ordered Field General Court Marshal for them," Maj-Gen Ghafoor had said. 

"Both of these are individual case and are not linked to each other, and there is no network as such," he had said. 

"Keep in mind that, if we have been able to get them and identify the issue, it is a success," he had told reporters at the press conference.