Leaked video: Dr Asim’s lawyer says footage has no legal value

Questions timing of video before verdict on ex-minister’s bail application

KARACHI: The lawyer of Dr Asim Hussain has played down the controversy surrounding the leaked confessional video of the former petroleum minister, saying the footage has no legal value.

In a video, widely circulated on the national and social media, Dr Asim is seen talking about Owais Muzzafar Tappi, the foster brother of Asif Zardari, and his involvement in different scandals during the previous government.

On Thursday, Advocate Anwar Mansoor Khan addressed a press conference at his office, declaring the alleged confessional statements as “inadmissible under the law”.

He believed the video was recorded when the former minister was in the custody of the paramilitary Rangers for 90 days. Such incriminatory statements, he added, were obtained during Dr Asim’s detention under “duress and torture” and thus carried no legal weight under criminal procedures.



Advocate Anwar maintained that the video footage suggested the suspect was made to read out a written statement, which he himself did not remember.

He recalled Dr Asim’s mother had filed two petitions in the Sindh High Court fearing the security force might attempt to take forced confessions from the detainee during custody.

With the court likely to announce its decision on the bail application of the former minister on June 18, Advocate Anwar saw a conspiracy behind the deliberate circulation of the video at this time. “This is an attempt to influence the court against Dr Asim,” he said.

Under the law, any confession before investigators is not admissible in court as most of such admissions are obtained under torture and duress. Only a confessional statement recorded before a judicial magistrate is legally admissible in the court of law.

PPP blames Rangers

Strongly condemning the airing of the leaked video on a TV channel, the Pakistan Peoples Party has said the footage confirmed the party’s apprehensions that Dr Asim was brutally tortured to extract such confessional statements.



“This is a monstrous notoriety and monumental arrogance of the law enforcement agency, which detained Dr Asim,” a PPP spokesperson said in a statement. “Clearly the Rangers are responsible for torturing Dr Asim and the surfacing of this video.”

He said the minister was first taken in custody over terrorism charges, but when no evidence could be found, he was implicated in corruption cases. The PPP condemns the atrocity and calls for the accountability of all those responsible for torturing Dr Asim, the spokesperson said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2016.