PESHAWAR - The Peshawar Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday indicted chief of banned Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM), Sufi Muhammad, for treason and sedition against the state.
During hearing in Peshawar Central Jail, the head of the banned outfit, Maulana Sufi Muhammad, was charged with treason and sedition for terming democracy and the democratic government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan ‘un-Islamic’ in a speech at Grassy Ground Mingora in 2009. Sufi expressed ‘no confidence’ over current judicial system, thus, he did not hire any lawyer in the cases against him.
The accused denied the charge while the hearing was adjourned till February 21. The court has summoned witnesses in the next hearing. Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge Abdur Rauf heard the case in Peshawar Central Jail where Sufi Muhammad was also present.
Sufi Muhammad had been booked along with five others, including his two sons and a commander of TNSM. Two of the accused have died.
The accused is the father-in-law of Mulla Fazlullah (Mulla Radio), the chief of banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), both belonging to Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sufi Muhammad is known for trying to impose Sharia by force in Swat Valley and leading thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in 2001 to help the Taliban repel US-backed forces.
Earlier in November 2014, an ATC in Peshawar had acquitted him and 30 of his accomplices in two terrorism cases including attacks on a Frontier Corps convoy and Kabal police station in Swat.
There were reports in the media recently that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government may forward the cases of Mulla Fazlullah and Sufi Muhammad to military courts for trial.