Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir's Power 'Strengthened' Amid Standoff With India
Pakistan's Supreme Court has empowered Asim Munir by upholding the trials of civilians in the military courts in the country, a move that significantly strengthens the army chief.
In a move that worsens the worst in Pakistan, their Supreme Court empowered army chief General Asim Munir by endorsing the trials of civilians in the military courts.
The country’s top court’s landmark judgment will most likely make the situation sink further in Pakistan, where the army has already crushed democracy multiple times and continues to do so.
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The position of Asim Munir – whose provocative statements against Hindus are linked to the Pahalgam terror attack, as per the Indian government – has in a way been strengthened by the Supreme Court’s verdict which overturned a previous judgment that ruled the trials of civilians in military courts as “unconstitutional".
A constitutional bench of the country’s top court has given a go-ahead to the military trials for those involved in the anti-army protests on May 9, 2023, according to a report by news agency PTI.
Lakhs of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters had stormed the military sites after their party chief was arrested, something they believed was executed on Munir’s orders.
Nearly 1,000 PTI supporters were held behind bars. They had alleged that several of the party workers were arrested without any evidence.
A seven-judge constitutional bench of Pakistan’s top court gave its ruling on May 7 after hearing several appeals against an earlier Supreme Court decision from October 2023. That earlier ruling had barred the military from trying civilians.
However, multiple petitioners — including law enforcement agencies — asked the court to reverse that decision and allow military trials for civilians under military law.
In a 5-2 split verdict, Pakistan’s Supreme Court upheld these appeals, allowing civilians involved in the May 9, 2023, anti-army attacks to be tried in military courts.
According to Dawn, the court also reinstated three parts of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, which had been struck down in 2023.
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