Imran Farooq murder case to be tried as terror act

IHC dismisses pleas of two suspects, upholds ATC’s decision to keep terrorism charges

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Thursday dismissed pleas seeking to remove terrorism clauses from the Dr Imran Farooq murder case.

A division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard pleas filed by two out of the three suspects standing trial in the case, Mohsin Ali and Moazzam Ali.

The two judges, though, dismissed the pleas.

Mohsin, Moazzam and Khalid Shamim are the three suspects undergoing a trial for murdering the former Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader in London. The suspects are currently imprisoned at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

Earlier, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) had dismissed similar pleas by the suspects who wanted terror charges to be dropped in the case.

ATC-I Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi had dismissed Mohsin and Moazzam’s applications challenging the trial and requesting the court to remove section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, from the case.

Shamim and Mohsin have already recorded their confessional statements in the case before a judicial magistrate alleging that the slain MQM leader was killed since he was a “potent threat to the leadership of MQM.”

The third suspect, Moazzam, has yet to record his statement in the case.

Shamim confessed that Farooq’s murder was supposed to be a ‘birthday gift’ for MQM founder Altaf Hussain while Syed’s statement revealed that he took part in the crime because he was promised a position in the London Secretariat of the MQM.

On December 5, 2015, the FIA had registered a case against MQM chief Altaf and other party leaders for their alleged involvement in the 2010 murder of Dr Imran Farooq.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2017.