Safoora Goth carnage: Authorities given last chance to hand over case files

SHC hears petition seeking release of three suspected facilitators

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) granted on Tuesday time as a last chance to the authorities concerned to comply with its directives in the case relating to the alleged detention of three suspected facilitators of the Safoora Goth carnage, despite their acquittal.

The bench, headed by Justice Abdul Maalik Gaddi, also issued notices to the attorney-general and provincial prosecutor-general to personally appear on the hearing on December 26.

The suspects - Naeem Sajid, former deputy-director of the Fishermen Cooperative Society Sultan Qamar Siddiqui and his younger brother Muhammad Hussain Siddiqui - stood to face trial in a military court for facilitating the suspects involved in the killing of 45 members of the Ismaili community on the outskirts of Karachi in May, 2015.

The investigators had alleged that the three men facilitated the Islamic State-inspired group of youths involved in the massacre.

Five accused, including Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin, Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Sain, Asadur Rehman alias Malik and Mohammad Azhar Ishrat alias Majid, were sentenced to death by a military court. Hira Siddiqui, wife of Sultan Qamar, had moved an application seeking the release of her husband and brother-in-law, who were handed over to the army, following the transfer of their trial from an anti-terrorism court (ATC) to a military court setup under the 21st Amendment.

The families of the Siddiqui brothers and another suspect, Sajid, had approached the court, saying it had come to their knowledge that the three men had been found to be not involved in facilitating the executioners of the Safoora Goth carnage.

The court has been pleaded to order the authorities to release the detainees, who are said to have been kept in inhumane living conditions and are suffering from various ailments.

During subsequent hearings, police officials had disclosed a nomination of the three men in cases registered against them under the arms act.

On the last hearing, the court had directed the investigation officer to obtain files of the cases registered against Sajid and the Siddiqui brothers from the Judge Advocate-General (JAG) branch of the army.

During Tuesday's proceedings, the IO informed the court that the JAG branch was approached to obtain the case files, but they had not been able to obtain them. The officer sought more time to do so.

Expressing their displeasure over the non-compliance of the court's directives, the judges granted time till December 26 as a last chance to the relevant authorities for providing the case files to the police IO. Meanwhile, they also issued notices to the attorney-general and Sindh prosecutor-general to personally appear on the next date of hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2016.