LHC discards appeal against death sentence of GHQ attack mastermind

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi division bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday discarded an appeal against the death sentence of Aqeel Ahmed alias Dr Usman, the man convicted for the 2009 attack on the Army General Headquarters (GHQ), DawnNews reported.

The intra-court appeal was heard by a bench comprising Justice Mazhar Iqbal and Justice Ibadur Rahman Lodhi.During the hearing, the court declared that the government had not yet decided on the implementation of capital punishment, adding that the appeal would be heard after the government makes a decision on the matter.
Usman, a former soldier of the armys medical corps, was convicted in August 2011 and was awarded the maximum punishment of death by the military court in Rawalpindi in the case relating to the GHQ attack.

He had first filed an appeal against the ruling in the military court, which was rejected. Following which, Usman challenged the death sentence in the Lahore High Court, arguing that he was sentenced without being given the opportunity to explain himself.

The GHQ attack took place in 2009, when 10 heavily armed militants stormed the army headquarters wearing suicide vests. Eleven soldiers died in the attack.