ATC convicts 3 JuD leaders in terror financing cases
Top 13 JuD leaders were booked early July, 2019
November 06, 2020
LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court in Lahore on Thursday convicted three Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) members in two separate cases pertaining to terrorism and terror financing, The News reported.
ATC Judge Ejaz Ahmad Butter awarded 16 year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs170,000 to Muhammad Ashraf and Malik Zafar Iqbal, members of Tanzeem al Anfaal. While Abdul Rehman Makki was given a one-year jail term and a fine of Rs20,000.
Malik and Makki have been convicted in five cases of terror financing till now. The prosecution proved that the men abetted by obtaining property for banned outfits in Multan.
The court while hearing the case on a daily basis concluded the trial.
Read more: ATC convicts JuD chief Hafiz Saeed in two cases
Background
Top 13 JuD leaders were booked early July, 2019 in two dozen cases pertaining to terror financing and money laundering under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 in five cities across Punjab by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).
The CTD declared that the banned outfit was financing terrorism from funds collected through its non-profit organisations and trusts including al Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muaz bin Jabal Trust and others.
During investigations, CTD found these organisations to have links with the JuD and its top leadership. These non-profits were banned in April 2019.
In mid-July 2019, Punjab CTD arrested Hafiz Saeed from Gujranwala on charges of terror financing. Top JuD leaders Malik, Ameer Hamza, Mohammad Yahya Aziz, Mohammad Naeem, Mohsin Bilal, Abdul Raqeeb, Dr Ahmad Daud, Dr Muhammad Ayub, Abdullah Ubaid, Mohammad Ali and Abdul Ghaffar were booked as well.
But the JuD leaders claim they left Lashkar-e-Taiba before the organization was banned in 2002. The counsel argued that the cases against his clients have been made on the basis of a link to defunct Al-Anfaal Trust which was formed to construct mosques in the country.
Moreover, in February, an anti-terrorism court had convicted Chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa Hafiz Saeed on charges of terror financing and awarded him five and a half years imprisonment each in two cases.
