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India-Pakistan

Hafiz Saeed sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for terror financing

2020-02-13

[DAWN] A Lahore anti-terrorism court convicted Jamatud Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed

...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat. He is periodically placed under house arrest so it looks like the govt is doing something. Once the heat is off they let him go....
in two terror-financing cases on Wednesday.

He was slapped with a prison sentence of five-and-a-half years and a fine of Rs15,000 in each case. The sentences of both cases will run concurrently. The court also granted him the benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (reduction of period of sentence of imprisonment). Malik Zafar Iqbal, the secretary of al-Anfaal Trust, has also been convicted in the same cases and has been awarded similar punishment.

They were convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act Section 11-F(2) ‐ pertaining to membership, support and meetings relating to a proscribed organization ‐ and 11-N (punishment under Sections 11-H to 11-K).

Section 11H relates to fundraising for the purpose of terrorism, 11-I is about the use and possession of money or other property for terrorism, 11-J relates to funding arrangements which result in money being made available for terrorism, while 11-K relates to money laundering.

The Jerusalem Post explains why this pet of the ISI, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai massacre that killed 160 over four days, is suddenly convicted of anything:

The Islamist leader was the first high profile figure convicted on terrorism financing charges in Pakistan, which denies regular accusations that it shelters militants.

The unprecedented ruling came ahead of a meeting of a world financial watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), next week to decide whether to blacklist Pakistan over a failure to curb terrorism financing.

Amid pressure from the FATF to take action against Saeed's militant groups, Pakistan charged him in December with collecting funds for his organizations, which are listed as terrorist organizations by the United Nations. He pleaded not guilty.

"Hafiz Saeed and another of his close aides have been sentenced in two cases of terrorism financing," prosecutor Abdul Rauf Watto told Reuters.

Saeed has denied any involvement and says his network, which spans 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services, has no ties to militant groups.

Saeed and his group's charities had entered into the country's politics under a plan backed by Pakistan army in a bid to integrate the militants in mainstream society. They contested the 2018 general election under a new name, Milli Muslim League (MML), but did not secure any seats.

Posted by:Fred

#1 From the JP link: The unprecedented ruling came ahead of a meeting of a world financial watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), next week to decide whether to blacklist Pakistan over a failure to curb terrorism financing.
So, the Paks are tossing him under the bus to avoid being blacklisted by the FATF. But as Fred notes, once the heat is off, they'll let him out.

Posted by: Spot 2020-02-13 13:29

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