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Pakistan Military Court Sentences 60 Civilians Up to 10 Years in Prison

Pakistani security officials check people and vehicles at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Pakistan, 24 December 2024. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB
Pakistani security officials check people and vehicles at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Pakistan, 24 December 2024. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB
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Pakistan Military Court Sentences 60 Civilians Up to 10 Years in Prison

Pakistani security officials check people and vehicles at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Pakistan, 24 December 2024. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB
Pakistani security officials check people and vehicles at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Pakistan, 24 December 2024. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB

A Pakistani military court sentenced sixty civilians to jail time ranging from 2 to 10 years in connection with attacks on military facilities following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in 2023, the military's media wing said on Thursday.
Those sentenced include a relative of Khan as well as two retired military officers. Days earlier, 25 others were sentenced on the same charges, Reuters reported.
Khan’s arrest in May 2023 sparked countrywide protests that saw his supporters attack and ransack military installations in an unprecedented backlash against Pakistan’s powerful army generals.
The military's media wing said, "The Nation, Government, and the Armed Forces remain steadfast in their commitment to upholding justice and ensuring that the inviolable writ of the state is maintained."
The sentences have sparked concerns among Khan's supporters that military courts will play a more significant role in cases related to the former leader, who is facing multiple charges, including inciting attacks against the armed forces.
The international community has also expressed concerns over the sentencing. The United States stated it is "deeply concerned" about the sentences, while the United Kingdom's foreign office noted that trying civilians in military courts "lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial".
The European Union also criticized the sentences, saying they are "inconsistent with the obligations that Pakistan has undertaken under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights".
In a press conference on Wednesday, the information minister said the military court sentences do not infringe upon the right to a fair trial, as individuals are granted access to a lawyer, family, and still have the opportunity to appeal twice, both within the military court and civilian court, the relevant high court.
Khan's supporters have denied any wrongdoing, and Khan himself claims that the cases against him are politically motivated.
The military and government have denied any unfair treatment of Khan or his supporters.

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N. Korean Soldier Captured in Russia-Ukraine War Dies, Says Seoul

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)
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N. Korean Soldier Captured in Russia-Ukraine War Dies, Says Seoul

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)

A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea's spy agency said on Friday.

Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russia's military, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August.

One of those North Korean soldiers was captured alive by the Ukrainian army on Thursday, a South Korean intelligence source told AFP, adding that the location where he was seized was not known.

Hours later, Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said that the soldier had succumbed to his wounds.

"It has been confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that the North Korean soldier captured alive on December 26th has just passed away due to worsening wounds," the South's spy agency said in a statement.

Friday's confirmation came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been "killed or wounded" so far as they joined Russian troops in combat.

South Korea's intelligence service had previously put the number of killed or wounded North Koreans at 1,000, saying the high casualty rate could be down to an unfamiliar battlefield environment and their lack of capability to counter drone attacks.

Pyongyang's soldiers were also being "utilized as expendable frontline assault units", lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said, speaking last week after a briefing by South Korea's spy agency.

- 'Dangerous expansion' -

North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A landmark defense pact between Pyongyang and Moscow signed in June came into force this month, with Russian President Vladimir Putin hailing it as a "breakthrough document".

North Korean state media said Friday that Putin sent a New Year's message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying "the bilateral ties between our two countries have been elevated after our talks in June in Pyongyang".

Ukraine's allies have called Pyongyang's growing involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine a "dangerous expansion" of the conflict.

Seoul's military believes that North Korea was seeking to modernize its conventional warfare capabilities through combat experience gained in the Russia-Ukraine war.

NATO chief Mark Rutte had also said that Moscow was providing support to Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs in exchange for the troops.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday that Pyongyang is reportedly "preparing for the rotation or additional deployment of soldiers" and supplying "240mm rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled artillery" to the Russian army.

Pyongyang's involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine had prompted warnings from Seoul.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, currently suspended, said in November that Seoul was "not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons" to Ukraine, which would mark a major shift to a long-standing policy barring the sale of weapons to countries in active conflict.