Petition seeks Davis be tried for forgery, murder

Pakistani police escort arrested US national Raymond Davis (C) to a court in Lahore. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court’s (LHC’s) chief justice on Monday sought replies from the federal and provincial governments on two petitions seeking the records of Raymond Davis and prosecuting him for double murder and for obtaining his visa under a fake name.

Copies of the petition were handed to a deputy attorney general and an assistant advocate general with directions to get the reply from the government by the next date of hearing, February 17.

The law officers assured the court that the order will be complied with.

Advocate Ilamudin Ghazi had moved the LHC to direct the federal government to produce a complete record of American citizen Raymond Davis accused of killing two men.

Ghazi submitted that Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said in the senate that he possessed the complete record of Davis. The petitioner requested the court to summon detailed record of Davis’s passport, weapon, recovered documents and foreign currency so that the purpose of his visit could be determined.

Barrister Iqbal Jafree, in another writ petition, prayed the court to direct the government to prosecute Davis for committing forgery by applying for his visa under a false name. He said as Davis got his visa under a false name his visa stood cancelled from the beginning.

He said immunity obtained fraudulently is invalid anywhere in the world.

He submitted that Davis used excessive force while gunning down two Pakistani men at Qurtaba Chowk on January 27 which shifted the burden on him. He says Davis deserves no special treatment and should be punished for killing and committing fraud. He said issuance of a passport with a false name by the US government is a tell tale sign for everyone.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2011.