Pakistan to tighten anti-terror laws

Pakistani Prime Minister, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, has issued directives to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Law to tighten the anti-terror law to enhance punishment to terror suspects and block court bails to detained suspects. Pakistani officials say that thousands of terror suspects, who are apprehended by law enforcement agencies, are bailed out from courts and again indulged in terrorist activities. The Prime Minister presided over a meeting on the anti-terror law and called for comprehensive amendments in the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2010 with a view to award detrimental punishment to those who are involved in heinous crimes like terrorism, an official statement said. Under the current law, the physical remand of the arrested terror charged people will be for 90 days. The Prime Minister observed that the present law is not offering an effective regime to the criminals who get scott free due to the legal lacuna in the prevalent law, the statement from the PM office said. “The rate of conviction is terribly low that embolden the criminals to revert to their abhorrence activities against the society and the state,” it said. Interior Minister, Rehman Mailk, briefed the meeting about the necessity of bringing amendments in the Anti- Terrorism Act and argued that the country needs such stringent amendments because we are in a situation that warrants special laws to deal with. In the meeting, various proposals forwarded by the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Law and by the experts in criminal law came under discussion. The Prime Minister directed that all the stakeholders should be on board while proposing the amendments in the Act because element of effectiveness is critical to frustrate the designs of those who are up against the society and its way of life. They cannot be allowed to hold the society as their hostage at gun point, the Prime Minister assured.