Former chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (retd) was indicted on Tuesday (December 10) on a number of charges according to the military. Hameed was charged with “engaging in political activities,” misuse of authority and government resources, and violation of the Official Secrets Act. According to a Dawn report, he is accused of doing so “at the behest of and in collusion with vested political interests”. This announcement comes four months after it began court martial proceedings against him. The general, regarded as Pakistan's top spymaster from June 2019 to November 2021, was considered close to the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. He was in the running to succeed Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as Pakistan Army Chief. Hameed resigned in November 2022, soon after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed (then) Lt Gen Asim Munir to the top post. A couple of weeks after the last American soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took power in August 2021, Hameed, who was then ISI chief, visited Kabul at the invitation of the country's new rulers. He was seen along with other Pakistani officials, having tea in a hotel. What are the allegations against Lt Gen Hameed? The Field General Court Martial (FGCM) against the retired general has been ordered following adverse observations made by the Supreme Court of Pakistan last year. On November 14, 2023, the court, which was hearing a petition filed by the owner of a real estate company, said in a written order that the petitioner's allegations against Hameed were “of an extremely serious nature, and if true, undoubtedly would undermine the reputation of the federal government, the armed forces, ISI and Pakistan Rangers.” “Therefore”, the three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa said, “they cannot be left unattended”, according to a report published by Dawn at the time. The petitioner, one Moeez Ahmed Khan, the owner of the Top City Housing scheme, a private housing society in the Chowki Hameedan area of Islamabad, had then accused Hameed and his associates of extortion. It was alleged that in May 2017, when Hameed was a senior officer in the ISI, officials of the spy agency and personnel of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers raided the offices of Top City and Moeez's home and took away gold and diamond jewellery after falsely accusing him of terrorism. The petitioner said that he was subsequently forced to “pay Rs 4 crore in cash” and “sponsor a private TV network for a few months” in a deal brokered by Hameed's brother, Sardar Najaf. The petition named two ISI brigadiers for allegedly coercing Moeez. What action has been taken against Hameed, and where is he now? In April 2024, a Court of Inquiry headed by a Major General of the Pakistan Army was convened against Lt Gen Hameed. The Summary of Evidence has culminated in the court martial. In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “Complying with the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry was undertaken by Pakistan Army, to ascertain correctness of complaints in Top City case made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd). Consequently, appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd), under provisions of Pakistan Army Act.” The retired general was arrested. However, unlike civilians, he has not been put in jail. Hameed has been housed in a guest room of an Army officers’ mess in Rawalpindi, with an Army officer and some troops deputed to guard him. How often has Pakistan's Army acted against its senior officers, serving or retired? Hameed is the third senior officer to have run foul of Gen Munir, the present Army chief. In April 2024, Lt Gen Ayman Bilal Safdar, the GOC 1 Corps stationed at Mangla in Punjab, was forced to resign after the ISI recorded some critical comments he made about the Army Chief during a visit to Saudi Arabia. An Artillery officer, Lt Gen Safdar could have had a shot at the office of Army Chief in 2025 if Gen Munir retires at the end of his three-year term. Before that, in May 2023, Lt Gen Salman Fayyaz Ghani, then GOC 4 Corps at Lahore, was sacked after Flag Staff House, the GOC's official residence, was vandalised by workers of Imran's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party. Dawn reported that Pakistani military courts had convicted a three-star and a two-star general for espionage and mutiny in 2019 and 1995 respectively. Several other military officers were also indicted in the latter case. In some other cases, instead of court-martialling general officers, the military removed them after disciplinary proceedings, Dawn said. This is an updated version of an explainer published in August 2024.
