Lahore: An anti-terrorism court sentenced Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and founder of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba Hafiz Saeed to thirty two years in jail in two cases and also imposed a collective fine of rupees three lakh forty thousand in both the cases. Judge Ijaz Ahmed Batar’s in his verdict handed down the jail term to terrorist Hafiz Saeed for sixteen years six months and fifteen years six months on two separate charges.
Saeed has been under arrest since 2019 and so far he has been convicted in seven cases. Saeed’s arrest is, however, an eyewash for the international community. Hafiz Saeed continues to run his terror network within the jail premises. In fact, he lives a lavish life at the expense of Pakistani exchequer.
The latest sentencing comes as Pakistan tries to avoid blacklisting by the global terror financing watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which judges a country’s ability to combat illicit financing, including to terrorist organisations. Pakistan has been on the watchdog’s “grey list” since 2018.
Saeed is still an important Pakistani figure and is living a secured life under the security of the Pak army. Anti-terrorism court judge Ijaz Butter ruled on the completion of the trial. The CTD (Counter-Terrorism Department) has registered cases against Hafiz Saeed and others accused. It must be noted that Hafiz Saeed has been convicted by an anti-terror court in the past. Hafiz Saeed and other leaders of his organization were charged in December 2019 for illegal terror funding. The case was registered against Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and others by the anti-terrorism department while he was arrested on July 17, 2019 from Gujranwala, Punjab.