Jawad Saeed

Jawad Saeed is a retired Pakistan Air Force three-star rank officer who attained the rank of air marshal. Commissioned in 1986, he held several high-level commands, including the Northern Air Command, before retiring in 2021. In 2024, Saeed was arrested and subjected to a court-martial for allegedly leaking sensitive military information to his brother in the United States, resulting in a 14-year prison sentence under the Official Secrets Act, 1923. Though his family maintained the court-martial was in retaliation for a white paper published by Saeed which exposed the corruption of Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu. During his early service, he commanded a fighter squadron and later a fighter wing. Saeed retired upon reaching the age of superannuation on 18 March 2021.

Court-martial and conviction On 21 January 2024, Saeed was arrested at his residence in Islamabad on charges of leaking sensitive information. The Pakistan Air Force initiated a Field General Court Martial under the Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953, charging him with sedition, espionage, and violations of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

The charges centred on allegations that Saeed shared classified details, including fighter jet deployments at Mianwali Airbase, with his brother residing in the United States. A PAF spokesperson described the information as "extremely sensitive" and confirmed the sharing occurred post-retirement. He was detained in a PAF officers' mess designated as a "sub-jail" due to the case's sensitivity, rather than a civilian prison. The court dismissed the petition after PAF confirmed his custody but allowed a separate challenge to the court-martial. PAF denied this, stating the court-martial was solely for the leak and unrelated to any administrative role in Operation Swift Retort in 2019.