ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan Wednesday granted bail to five accused allegedly involved in Hamza Camp attack related to May 9 incidents. The bench granted bail to Awais, Nasrullah, Saifullah, Kamran and Waqas who were accused of damaging the properties at Hamza Camp, Rawalpindi.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and comprising Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Mussarat Hilal conducted hearing of the bail applications of five accused and granted them bail. During the hearing, Justice Hassan inquired that what evidence was presented against the suspects and whether they had been identified from the CCTV footages. The Investigation Officer (IO) replied, “The protestors had broken the [CCTV] cameras of the venues, including the Hamza Camp.”
Justice Hassan noted that there was no other evidence against them except the police testimony. The IO informed the court that first the case was registered and then the suspects were arrested. Justice Jamal then asked how the names of the suspects were known before their arrest. The bench expressed annoyance over the police and the prosecution for their poor investigation of the case. Justice Jamal also stated; “This means there is no evidence against the suspects; only the police statements.” He added, “The police themselves damaged the entire case.” He questioned what was the reason to include terror charges in the cases. “How is carrying out rallies [equivalent to] terrorism?” he asked
The Punjab prosecutor general replied that the suspects had attacked a camp of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He also told that a head constable of the Lahore Special Branch was also a witness in the case, at which Justice Jamal remarked, “The incident took place in Rawalpindi and the witness is from Lahore?”
Justice Jamal observed that the police did not know what is terrorism, saying that; “Terrorism took place in the Army Public School Peshawar incident and the Quetta ‘katcheri’.” “How is carrying out rallies [equivalent to] terrorism?” he asked. He further inquired; “Is burning tyres [in protest] against the government a huge crime?” “Detaining everyone is not the solution to the problem,” he said.