Skip to main content

UK sets condition for evidence sharing in Imran Farooq case

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has informed an anti-terrorism court (ATC) that the United Kingdom is ready to share evidence in the Imran Farooq murder case provided the accused is not be given the death penalty in case of conviction.

The FIA’s special prosecutor, Khawaja Imtiaz, told the ATC that the UK Central Authority, in response to correspondence related to sharing of evidence in the murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Dr Imran Farooq, said that the European laws did not permit sharing of evidence with a country where the offence was punishable by death.

He added that the UK government had asked Pakistan to give assurance that the convict would not be given death sentence on the basis of the evidence related to the murder.

European laws don’t permit providing evidence to a country where the offence is punishable by death, court told

Mr Imtiaz, while talking to Dawn, said that the Pakistani government had replied to the UK Central Authority that the matter was under consideration and for this particular case, the law might be amended or the presidential pardon might be invoked to change death sentence to life imprisonment. However, he said, the top law office would have a final say in this matter.

Earlier this month, the prosecutor told the court that UK authorities were willing to share evidence and had emailed to the attorney general office of Pakistan, expressing willingness to provide evidence which might be used against the suspects facing trial in the murder case.

The Islamabad High Court last year directed the ATC to conclude the trial by October 2018.

The FIA, on the other hand, was seeking time from the trial court to produce evidence which it was expecting to get from the UK under the mutual legal assistance (MLA) request.

Initially, the UK authorities did not respond to Pakistan’s request for the MLA.

Two suspects in the case — Khalid Shamim and Syed Mohsin Ali — have recorded their confessional statements before the magistrate, saying that Dr Farooq was killed because he was a “potent threat to the leadership of the MQM”. However, recently, these suspects have backtracked from their confessional statement, saying that they recorded the previous statement under coercion.

Another suspect, Moazzam Ali, has not yet recorded his confessional statement in the case.

Dr Farooq, a senior leader of the MQM, was murdered outside his home in London in 2010.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2019



from The Dawn News - Home http://bit.ly/2WDL93D
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more