Hafiz Saeed convicted by Pakistan anti-terror court for 5 years, on FATF plenary eve

In a big development on Wednesday, 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed has been convicted for five and a half years in two terror financing cases against him. Additionally he has been slapped with a fine of Rs15,000 in each case. He was convicted under ATA Section 11-F (2) and 11-N. This came even after the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore accepted his plea to club all the pending cases against him and then announce the verdict. The 26/11 mastermind and UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed had also pleaded "not guilty."

 The Counter-Terrorism Department of Pakistan had registered 23 FIRs against Hafiz Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in different cities of Punjab province and arrested him on July 17. He is held at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. However, he has not been convicted against the 26/11 terror attack case. 

His conviction comes amid the mounting international pressure on Islamabad and a FATF black-listing staring Imran Khan's country. The FATF’s plenary group is scheduled to meet in Paris between 16-21 February to formally announce what it thinks of Pakistan’s performance on tackling money laundering and terror financing.

Pakistan Court yet again defers order in Hafiz Saeed's terror financing cases until Feb 11

Hafiz Saeed terror cases

The CTD had registered 23 FIRs against Hafiz Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing, arrested him on July 17 and held him at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. Hafiz Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans. In December 2008, Saeed was put under house arrest in Pakistan under the Maintenance of Public Order Law, only to be freed nearly 10 months later on orders of the Lahore High Court. In 2019, Pakistan's counter-terrorism department held Saeed and his Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) guilty of 'terror financing'. 

Here's an account of the times Hafiz Saeed was arrested:

December 2001

May 2002

October 2002

August 2006 (twice)

December 2008

September 2009

January 2017

26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed pleads not guilty in terror financing cases: Court officials