Pakistan jails Americans on terror charges
Five Americans have been sentenced to at least 10 years each in prison after being found guilty of terror charges by a Pakistani court.
The five young Muslims from the Washington DC area were arrested in Pakistan in December after their families reported them missing.
Prosecutor Rana Bakhtiar, who announced the sentences today in the Punjab town of Sargodha, said the men have the right to appeal.
The case is one of several involving alleged “home-grown” American militants linked to Pakistan, but the only one being tried in a Pakistani court.
The case has heightened concerns about Westerners travelling to Pakistan to contact al-Qaida and other Islamist extremist groups.
The trial was sensitive for the US, which has a duty to ensure justice for its citizens but has also pushed Pakistan to crack down on militancy.
Prosecutors said email records and witness statements proved they were plotting terror attacks in Pakistan and conspired to wage war against nations allied with it, a reference to Afghanistan, where the men were alleged to have been travelling.
The judge handed down two prison terms for each man, one for 10 years and the other for five. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
The men said nothing when the verdict was read out.
The trial moved with unusual speed in a country where cases often drag out for years and where terror convictions are rare and often overturned on appeal.
The trial was closed to journalists and observers and was heard by a single judge in a special anti-terrorism court.
The men have been identified as Ramy Zamzam, of Egyptian descent, Waqar Khan and Umar Farooq, of Pakistani descent, and Aman Hassan Yemer and Ahmed Minni, of Ethiopian descent.
One allegedly left behind a farewell video in the United States showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended.
A lawyer for the men said they would appeal against the ruling to the Lahore High Court.
Defence lawyer Hassan Dastghir said: “It was not a fit case for conviction. I am confident that we will win the case at appeals level.”
American officials have said little in public about the trial, and today embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said only that the US respects the decision of the Pakistani courts.
Washington is trying to counter anti-American sentiment in Pakistan’s government, security forces and media, as it pushes Islamabad to flush out the Taliban, al Qaida and other militant networks who use its territory.
