Pakistan's Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) has given a verdict in the terror funding case against the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) chief Hafiz Saeed. The court has sentenced Hafiz Saeed five years of jail. A total of 29 cases of terrorist funding, money laundering, and illegal possession are registered against Saeed. Earlier, the court on Tuesday accepted the plea of Hafiz Saeed, seeking to hear six cases together and pronounce the verdict.
Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Rauf said that six cases against the accused were pending in court, of which four were under process to produce evidence. All four cases will be heard by the end of this week. A court official had said that the ATC judge looked into the application of Hafiz Saeed in which he had appealed to merge all the cases against him. The officer had said that the Deputy Prosecutor opposed Saeed's plea and argued that the trial in two cases against him had already been completed and the court could pronounce a judgment under the law.
Hafiz Saeed's associates Hafiz Abdul Salam bin Mohammed, Mohammad Ashraf and Professor Zafar Iqbal were also arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. In this case, on behalf of the government, Mufti Abdul Rauf presented his stand and presented witnesses. According to him, statements of 23 witnesses were recorded during this period. According to Rauf, Hafiz Saeed has been illegally collecting funds for terrorists through charity.
