Only those who trespassed & rampaged sensitive installations & prohibited areas to be tried under Official Secret Act & Army Act 1952: Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD, May 26 (SABAH): Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan has clarified that only those who trespassed and rampaged sensitive installations and prohibited areas on May 9 and May 10 will be tried under Official Secret Act and Army Act 1952.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Friday, Rana Sanaullah Khan said this is the matter of safeguarding defence related areas and no compromise will be made on it. He however assured that the investigations will be carried out in a fair and transparent manner.

The Interior Minister rejected the impression that all the individuals arrested in connection with arson and vandalism will be tried in the military courts. “Various analyses and conspiracies have been spreading … so I thought it best to appear here and state the facts and figures,” Rana Sanaullah said. He said there is a possibility that only six to seven out of 499 FIRs registered regarding May 9 and 10 violent acts will face trials in military courts.

He said 88 FIRs have been registered under Anti-Terrorist Act and the remaining 411 under other laws.

Rana Sanaullah said that under Anti-Terrorism Act, 3946 people have been arrested for their involvement in the violent acts across the country. These include 2588 from Punjab and 1099 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In other cases, the Interior Minister said, 5536 people, were arrested and eighty percent of them have been released on bail.

“It is being said that everything is being taken to military courts. This is not true. Only 19 accused have been transferred to military courts in Punjab and 14 in KP. Nowhere else are these measures being taken,” he clarified.

The Interior Minister assured that no innocent will be implicated in cases but the law will take its course against those who instigated, planned and perpetuated the May 9 and 10 violent acts.

Rana Sanaullah then turned to the procedure by which cases would be handed over to military authorities and said that they would determine whether the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) 1952 or Official Secrets Act 1923 had been violated. Only those found guilty of violating these will be tried under army laws.

Elaborating further, the federal minister said that both laws come into play “when a person trespasses, suggests or provokes another person to trespass a prohibited area — be it building, area or an office owned by sensitive agencies responsible for defending the country.”

Rana Sanaullah said the people had rejected the politics of anarchy and chaos of PTI Chairman Imran Khan. He said the violent acts were planned by the PTI Chairman Imran Khan and in this regard he also alluded to the speeches of Imran Khan.

Responding to a question, the Interior Minister said the assemblies will complete their tenure and the elections will be held in accordance with the constitution. He said the general elections will be held simultaneously across the country.

Earlier, Rana Sanaullah said the people had rejected the politics of anarchy and chaos propagated by Khan. He also accused Khan and PTI of planning the violent acts and leaving behind an “extensive trail of evidence”.

The security czar maintained that the Official Secrets Act and the Army Act were applicable when a person – even if it be a soldier – trespassed on a building, or a part of it, which is related to the country’s defence. “It is a punishable offence to enter, stay around, or allow people to enter such a building. Protests and videos cannot be made near sensitive buildings,” he clarified.

Referring to calls for legislation, Rana Sanaullah maintained that there was no need for any legislation or amendments regarding cases in military courts. He said that politics of hate started with the 2014 sit-in when a political party named its politics “jihad” and “what happened on May 9 was also a continuation of that”. “I used to always call Imran Khan fitna”.

Talking about former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad’s comments regarding the May 9 events, Rana Sanaullah said Khalilzad did not tweet about the person who was sentenced to jail for four years after breaking into Capitol Hill in the US. He continued that Khalilzad “only observed human rights in Pakistan”. The interior minister further alleged that money were being sent for Khalilzad to lobby in the US.