No one is above the law: DG ISPR

Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor has said that an effective and strict accountability process exist in armed forces which is evident from sentences awarded by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Major Gen Ghafoor said sentences awarded to three including two army men and a civilian were given in three separate cases.

“Officers were given stern punishment on the crime they had committed”, the DG ISPR said.

He further said that no one is above the law.

Earlier on Thursday, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had signed death warrants for a retired Brigadier and a doctor along with awarding 14 years imprisonment to a Lt. General (retd.).

According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), “Two officers namely Brigadier Raja Rizwan (Retd) and a civilian officer Dr. Waseem Akram were awarded death sentences by COAS along with awarding 14 years worth of imprisonment to Lt. General Javed Iqbal (Retd).”

Read more: Army Chief signs death warrants for retired brigadier and civil officer

Following are the names and punishments of those being penalised by the Armed Forces:

1. Retired Lieutenant General Javed Iqbal – Awarded 14 years rigorous imprisonment.
2. Retired Brigadier Raja Rizwan – Awarded Death Sentence.
3. Doctor Wasim Akram (Employed at a Sensitive Organisation) – Awarded Death Sentence.

“The officers were tried under Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and Official Secret Act by separate Field General Court Martial (FGCM) for separate cases,” read a statement issued by ISPR.