Opaque trials

AND so, it has come to pass. All 85 individuals tried by military courts for their involvement in the May 9 riots have now been sentenced to up to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Military courts, by their nature, are designed for exceptional circumstances such as martial law or active conflict. Pakistan was not in a state of war or emergency on May 9. The civilian judiciary, while overburdened, remains functional. Why, then, were these cases routed through a system outside the civilian domain?