LAHORE, Jan 8: Mumbai attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Toiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was sentenced to 5 years in jail today by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court here in a terror financing case, amidst growing international pressure on Islamabad to bring to justice terrorists roaming free in the country.
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar sentenced UN proscribed terrorist Lakhvi to five years of rigorous imprisonment each on three counts with a fine of PKR 100,000 (approximately USD 620) each on three counts. His punishment will run concurrently.
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“The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore convicted Lakhvi for commission of offences of terrorism financing in a case registered by the CTD for 15 years under different sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997,” a court official said after the hearing.
“In default of payment of fine, he will have to undergo an imprisonment of six months each on three counts. He has been sent to prison to serve the sentences,” the official said.
Lakhvi pleaded before the court that he was “falsely implicated” in this case. He was accused of running a dispensary and using funds collected for terrorism financing.
“He and others also collected funds from this dispensary and used these funds for further terrorism financing. He also used these funds for personal expenses,” the CTD said.
In New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the timing of these actions clearly suggests the intention of conveying a sense of compliance ahead of APJG (Asia Pacific Joint Group) meet and the next FATF (Financial Action Task Force) plenary meet in February 2021.
“It has become routine for Pakistan to come up with farcical actions prior to important meetings,” he said when asked about the jail sentence to Lakhvi, and issuance of an arrest warrant against Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar by another Pakistan court.
“UN proscribed entities and designated terrorists act as proxies for Pakistani establishment to fulfil its anti-India agenda. It is for the international community to hold Pakistan to account and ensure that it takes credible action against terror groups, terror infrastructure and individual terrorists,” Srivastava said. (PTI)
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