Death sentence of three upheld, life terms of as many annulled

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday upheld the death sentence of three activists of a banned militant outfit but set aside life imprisonment of three other co-accused in the case of the suicide attack that killed Pakistan Islami Tehrik and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal leader Allama Hassan Turabi in 2006.An anti-terrorism court had on September 30, 2010, handed down death sentence to Mohammad Amin, alias Khalid Shaheen, Sultan Mehmood, alias Saifullah, and Mohammad Rehman, alias Mani, and awarded life imprisonment to Ashfaq Qureshi, Mohammad Akbar Khan and Raheemullah for their involvement in the case. They were prosecuted for masterminding the suicide attack that killed Turabi near his residence in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.According to the prosecution, an alleged suicide bomber, Abdul Karim, had blown himself with some explosive material when Turabi reached his house within the limits of the Sacchal police station after attending a rally against the Israeli aggression in Palestine and Lebanon.He was killed along with his nephew Imran Ali in the blast on July 14, 2006. Three policemen Azhar Hussain, Fakhar Hussain and Mohammad Rashid, and a woman, Noreen, were also injured in the blast.All the accused were also sentenced to life imprisonment for causing another bomb blast to kill Turabi in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, in which he had escaped unhurt. The prosecution alleged that the appellants had planted a remote-controlled bomb in a pushcart on April 6, 2006 to kill Turabi when he was travelling on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road within the limits of the Mobina Town police station. Turabi’s son Murtaza, gunman Mashooq and a pedestrian were injured in that blast.The appellants’ counsel submitted that the prosecution’s case had contradictions and it had failed to prove its case against the appellants. It was said that the prosecution’s evidence and confessional statements of the three appellants could not be relied upon in the eyes of the law and rulings of superior courts.A deputy prosecutor general submitted that the prosecution had proved its case against the defendants who conspired and prepared the suicide bomber to kill the religious leader of Shia sect.He submitted that the defendants first attempted to kill Turabi through a remote-control bomb in April 2006 but he escaped unhurt in that attempt. They, however, then prepared a suicide bomber and got Turabi killed in a suicide attack. The prosecution placed 37 witnesses, including eyewitnesses, to prove the guilt of the defendants.The witnesses said that Amin, Mehmood and Rehman were seen with the suicide bomber before he blew himself. A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, after hearing the arguments and perusal of the evidence of the case, observed that Amin, Mehmood and Rehman had made a judicial confession of conspiring to kill Turabi on the sectarian grounds and their presence was witnessed at the crime scene by witnesses.The high court, however, observed that no sufficient evidence was found against the three co-appellants and set aside their life imprisonment. The SHC ordered the authorities to release them if not required in other cases.

from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2PtmESz