PAKISTAN SCRAPS TRIALS BEFORE MILITARY COURTS AFTER 4 YEARS

April 1, 2019: Pakistan scrapped terrorism trials before special military courts after the tribunals' mandate expired on 1 April 2019, ending a measure that had been in place for over four years to help authorities curb militant attacks, a government minister said.
The country resumed military trials for terror suspects in 2015 and lifted a moratorium on the death penalty after a Taliban attack in December 2014 on a school in Peshawar killed more than 150 people, mostly young students.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the courts were re-introduced under special circumstances and "performed well."
"We were near to eliminating terrorism," he added.
Terrorism cases will now be handled by regular courts, notorious for their bureaucracy and slow justice. According to Pakistani officials, the special military tribunals over the past four years decided 478 cases and sentenced 284 people to death. Of those, 56 convicted militants have already been executed. Also, 192 other suspects were sentenced to various prison terms. (Sources: Ap, 01/04/2019)