Pakistan government on Friday introduced a constitutional amendment bill in Parliament to revive the controversial special military courts for trying “hardcore” civilians, charged with terrorism. Apart from changes sought in the constitution to set up such courts, another bill was presented to seek amendment in the army law to enable military to regulate these courts. Radio Pakistan reported that the Minister said on the occasion that in 2015, the parliament had passed two bills including Twenty-first (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and “The Pakistan Army [Amendment] Bill, 2015 to set up military courts to hear the cases of hardcore criminals. The previous law passed in 2015 to set up military courts for two years was unanimously adopted. A total of 275 cases have been referred to the military courts and 12 convicts executed over two years, the interior ministry says.

Source: Dhaka Tribune March 10, 2017 12:45 UTC