Pakistan military courts have sentenced nine men to death for
terrorism-related offences or attacks on minority Shiites, an army
spokesperson says.
Pakistan has hanged more than 300 people
since lifting a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014, many
of them convicted in closed military courts which critics say fail to
meet fair trial standards.
Attacks on soldiers
A
statement said: "The chief of army staff confirmed thatdeath sentences
(were) awarded to another nine hardcore terrorists, who were involved in
committing heinous offences relating to terrorism".
Also sentenced were Harkatul Jehad-e-Islam activist Abdul Qayyum, who was linked to a car bomb suicide attack on the Inter Services Intelligence headquarters in the central city of Multan which killed seven people and wounded 72 in December 2009.
Two others were linked to attacks on soldiers, while five were said to be members of the Sunni sectarian outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan who had killed five Shi'ites in the eastern city of Lahore.
Their trials took place behind closed doors, with no information on where or where they were held, how proceedings unfolded and scant details about their crimes.
Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade following its decision to side with the US-led coalition against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Military courts
Its troops have been engaged in a full-scale offensive against Taliban and other militants in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal districts since June 2014.
The fight gained renewed impetus following a massacre at a Peshawar school in December 2014 in which 134 children were killed, leading to widespread outrage and a series of measures aimed at combating terror.
After the school attack the government ended a six-year moratorium on executions - initially only for people convicted of terrorism but later for all capital offences.
Pakistan also amended its constitution to allow military courts to try terror suspects for a two-year period.
Supporters of the courts say cases previously dragged on for years and many suspects escaped punishment due to legal loopholes or intimidation of witnesses.
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