[Pak Daily Times] An anti-terrorism court on Monday framed charges against banned Tahreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad in various cases and fixed January 31 for recording evidences against him. Sources told Daily Times that the anti-terrorism court judge, Asim Imam, conducted the proceedings inside the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar Central Prison in about nine cases against Sufi Muhammad and 68 others charged in the same cases. These cases were registered over a decade ago with different cop shoppes of Swat and Dir districts.
Sufi Muhammad, the sources said, informed the judge that he did not believe in the current judicial system as it was not in accordance with Shariah. The TNSM chief also refused to hire a lawyer to defend himself in the cases, the sources added.
The public prosecutor said the government had reopened old cases against the TNSM chief and he was also facing fresh cases lodged with Mingora and Saidu Sharif cop shoppes. One of the cases registered at Mingora cop shoppe pertained to the killing of PPP MPA Badiuzzaman.
Sufi Muhammad had launched a movement in June 1989 to replace these courts with Shariah courts in the Malakand Division.