Islamabad, Oct 18 (ANI): Three out of every four terrorism suspects arrested in Punjab over the last two decades were set free by the courts, data compiled by the provincial government in Pakistan has revealed.
Since 1990, there have been 800 incidents of terrorism in Punjab, of which 475 have actually been prosecuted.
A total of 2,300 suspects were named in those cases, and about 2,200 arrested. Of those arrested, about 1,650 (75 percent) were acquitted by the courts due to a lack of evidence against them, the Express Tribune reports.
Public prosecutors, however, claim that the conviction rate was even lower than those numbers suggest. Chaudhry Muhammad Jahangir, Punjab's chief public prosecutor, said that "terrorism" cases often included simpler crimes like abduction for ransom, which were classified as terrorism because they were mentioned in the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.
Jahangir said that conviction rates on actual cases of terrorism were even lower.
He identified three major problems with the prosecution of terrorism cases that led to so many acquittals: lack of witness protection, defective investigations, and lack of forensic and other technology that would aid the investigation process.
Ali Amir Malik, the deputy inspector general of police for investigations, also agreed with Jahangir's reasoning, adding that the withdrawal of testimonies by witnesses, who are often threatened and intimidated by terrorist groups, are the primary causes for the low conviction rate. (ANI)
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