LAHORE: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore on Wednesday indicted proscribed Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and other party leaders who were booked in July this year in multiple cases pertaining to alleged terror financing and money laundering.
Saeed, along with the other accomplices, was presented before the court today under strict security protocol. After filing charges, the court summoned the prosecution’s witnesses. ATC-I judge Malik Arshad Bhutta, who heard the case, adjourned proceedings until tomorrow.
Earlier on Saturday, the court had delayed the indictment owing to the unavailability of one of the suspects in a case registered by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on charges of terror financing. On July 3, top JuD leadership was booked in nearly two dozen cases pertaining to terror financing and money laundering under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997.
However, the JuD leadership denied the allegations as being baseless and a result of international pressure on the Pakistan government. They claimed that they have been charged in cases by wrongly attributing them as leaders of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The CTD, which registered the cases in five cities of Punjab, declared that the JuD was financing terrorism from the massive funds collected through non-profit organisations and trusts including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muaz Bin Jabal Trust, etc.
These non-profit organisations were banned earlier in April as the CTD, during detailed investigations, found that they had links with the JuD and its top leadership. Subsequently, on July 17, Saeed was arrested from Gujranwala on charges of terror financing by the Punjab CTD. He was sent to prison on judicial remand after the CTD presented him before a Gujranwala ATC.
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