Imran Farooq murder: FIA files case against Altaf, other MQM men
Legal experts say Pakistan won’t be able to try party chief
Legal experts say Pakistan won’t be able to try party chief. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:
The Federal Investigation Agency has registered a case against Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain and other party leaders for their alleged involvement in the 2010 murder of Dr Imran Farooq.
Legal experts, however, said they found no substance in the FIR that was lodged five years after the crime. They said Pakistan would be unable to put Altaf on trial in absentia.
Last week, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had told a news conference that the decision to lodge the complaint in Pakistan was taken after observing the London police’s silence on the fate of the three suspects. British authorities have not made any request for their extradition, he added.
Dr Farooq was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his apartment in Green Lane, Edgware, in September 2010. Investigators from the London Metropolitan Police, which has been investigating the assassination, flew into Pakistan in July and September this year to interrogate the suspects – Moazzam Ali Khan, Khalid Shamim and Mohsin Ali – who are in the custody of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.
Moazzam, who had allegedly facilitated Farooq’s killers, was arrested this March from Karachi while Khalid and Mohsin were arrested by the Balochistan Frontier Corps from Chaman, a town bordering Afghanistan. Islamabad has become a complainant in the murder case through the conterterrorism wing of the FIA.
Muhammad Anwar, Iftikhar Hussain, Moazzam, Khalid, Mohsin and Kashif Kamran have also been nominated in the FIR. These MQM members have been grilled by the Scotland Yard.
The FIA registered the case under the relevant clauses of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The clauses of conspiracy, assistance, abetment and assassination/murder have also been incorporated in the FIR.
The decision to incorporate the MQM chief’s name was taken at the eleventh hour. “Initially, there was no plan to lodge an FIR against Altaf, and it was decided that the FIR would be specific to the three accused [currently in the FIA’s custody],” said a senior interior ministry official.
Nisar had also told the media last week that the case would be registered against the three accused. In response to a question, he said the investigation would determine the role of any other person in the murder, including Altaf.
Wasim Sajjad, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said Pakistani laws allow putting someone on trial in absentia. But that might not be possible in Altaf’s case, he added. “The trial option can be exercised against a Pakistani citizen who commits a crime overseas only if the other country (UK in this case) sends the accused (Altaf) to Pakistan.”
Former law minister Khalid Ranjha said the FIR was not sustainable, as the crime had been committed outside Pakistan and the accused was also not in the country. “There is no legal substance in this move and it can be termed ‘mala fide’.” Reacting to media reports on the FIR against the MQM chief, party spokesman Aminul Haq said: “The timing of the registration of the case is surprising. It seems to show mala fide intention.”
He said cases were usually registered in the jurisdiction in which the crime was committed. “Why was this case registered in Pakistan?”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2015.
The Federal Investigation Agency has registered a case against Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain and other party leaders for their alleged involvement in the 2010 murder of Dr Imran Farooq.
Legal experts, however, said they found no substance in the FIR that was lodged five years after the crime. They said Pakistan would be unable to put Altaf on trial in absentia.
Last week, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had told a news conference that the decision to lodge the complaint in Pakistan was taken after observing the London police’s silence on the fate of the three suspects. British authorities have not made any request for their extradition, he added.
Dr Farooq was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his apartment in Green Lane, Edgware, in September 2010. Investigators from the London Metropolitan Police, which has been investigating the assassination, flew into Pakistan in July and September this year to interrogate the suspects – Moazzam Ali Khan, Khalid Shamim and Mohsin Ali – who are in the custody of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.
Moazzam, who had allegedly facilitated Farooq’s killers, was arrested this March from Karachi while Khalid and Mohsin were arrested by the Balochistan Frontier Corps from Chaman, a town bordering Afghanistan. Islamabad has become a complainant in the murder case through the conterterrorism wing of the FIA.
Muhammad Anwar, Iftikhar Hussain, Moazzam, Khalid, Mohsin and Kashif Kamran have also been nominated in the FIR. These MQM members have been grilled by the Scotland Yard.
The FIA registered the case under the relevant clauses of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The clauses of conspiracy, assistance, abetment and assassination/murder have also been incorporated in the FIR.
The decision to incorporate the MQM chief’s name was taken at the eleventh hour. “Initially, there was no plan to lodge an FIR against Altaf, and it was decided that the FIR would be specific to the three accused [currently in the FIA’s custody],” said a senior interior ministry official.
Nisar had also told the media last week that the case would be registered against the three accused. In response to a question, he said the investigation would determine the role of any other person in the murder, including Altaf.
Wasim Sajjad, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said Pakistani laws allow putting someone on trial in absentia. But that might not be possible in Altaf’s case, he added. “The trial option can be exercised against a Pakistani citizen who commits a crime overseas only if the other country (UK in this case) sends the accused (Altaf) to Pakistan.”
Former law minister Khalid Ranjha said the FIR was not sustainable, as the crime had been committed outside Pakistan and the accused was also not in the country. “There is no legal substance in this move and it can be termed ‘mala fide’.” Reacting to media reports on the FIR against the MQM chief, party spokesman Aminul Haq said: “The timing of the registration of the case is surprising. It seems to show mala fide intention.”
He said cases were usually registered in the jurisdiction in which the crime was committed. “Why was this case registered in Pakistan?”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2015.