ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Pakistani Supreme Court launches hearing into military courts

The Supreme Court of Pakistan began hearing today a constitutional petition challenging the legality of special military courts established to combat terrorism in the port city of Karachi.

"The military courts have been established in violation of the Constitution," said Akram Sheikh, a lawyer for the Muttahida Quami Movement.

No court can be set up without consulting the Chief Justice of Pakistan, nor can the judiciary share powers with any court that does not have a place in the Constitution, he said.

The hearing is likely to continue for several days, if not weeks.

Last November, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief's government had established military courts in the troubled port city of Karachi, where more than 1,000 people died in political violence in 1998.

But the MQM accuses the government of launching a witch-hunt against its members to destroy the party.

The Supreme Court has already ordered that the death sentences handed out by the military courts be suspended until their legality is affirmed. So far these courts have sentenced 13 people to death. Two were executed before the apex court's stay.

Despite the Supreme Court hearing, the government on Saturday ordered that military courts be established in all major cities throughout the country.

Opposition parties, human rights groups, and lawyers have criticised the courts, saying they undermine the Constitution and are tantamount to a parallel judiciary system in the country.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report