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

Hafiz Saeed, once again got away from getting convicted in Pakistan, after the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore deferred from announcing the verdict on the 26/11 mastermind. On Saturday, a Pakistan Court deferred the matter until 11 February 2020.  Reportedly, the terror financing case in Lahore was deferred after the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief asked the Court to hear other pending cases then pronounce a verdict together. Yet another delay in Hafiz Saeed's conviction comes amid the global pressure on Islamabad to rein in terror groups. Previously, on December 7, 2019, an ATC failed to indict Saeed, as authorities failed to produce his co-accused in the court. 

The ATC Lahore judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta reserved the verdict against Hafiz Saeed in two terror financing cases on Thursday. The defense and prosecution completed their arguments in a six-hour hearing, the court official told PTI after the hearing. The official further said the prosecution produced some 20 witnesses in the ATC who testified against Hafiz Saeed and his close aides for their alleged involvement in terror financing.

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Hafiz Saeed was produced before the ATC amid tight security. "As the defence had already completed its arguments on January 30, the prosecution presented more arguments and evidence before the court on Thursday," the official said. The ATC had indicted Hafiz Saeed and others on December 11. Hafiz Saeed has already recorded his statement before the court in two terror financing cases against him in which he pleaded "not guilty". If convicted, this would Hafiz Saeed's first conviction in 20 years. 

Hafiz Saeed terror cases

The CTD 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. 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'. 

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(With PTI inputs)