Judicial inquiry: More witnesses to testify in Chechen killing probe

Russian government asks Pakistan for incident’s details, passport copies.

QUETTA:

As many as 12 more people have registered to testify before a judicial tribunal probing into the May 17 killing of five Chechens.

The five foreigners, among them a pregnant woman in her last trimester, were gunned down by Frontier Corps and police personnel in Kharotabad on the outskirts of Quetta. Security forces said they were terror suspects but in subsequent investigations, it appeared that the Chechens were not carrying any explosives nor were they wearing suicide jackets.

The Balochistan government formed a judicial tribunal, headed by Balochistan High Court judge Justice Hashim Kakar, to investigate the incident.

Most of those who registered on Thursday were said to be residents of Kharotabad. A lawyer also registered as a private witness while a journalist produced 60 photographs related to the incident.

Locals have called the killings extrajudicial murder and said the five were killed in a fake encounter. The residents of Kharotabad had earlier handed over a sensational video to media houses in which a police official is seen pocketing a valuable, presumably a gold chain or a necklace, recovered from a corpse. The footage also shows FC personnel and police officials opening indiscriminate firing on five Chechen suspects who were at that time lying injured near the FC picket.

The tribunal will start formal investigation on Monday and record statements of witnesses. As many as fourteen people – mostly residents of the area – have so far registered themselves as witnesses. Earlier, vice-president of Jamaat-i-Islami Balochistan chapter Amanullah Shahdezai and a photojournalist also registered their names. Some photographs, footage and reports have also been produced before the tribunal.

Russia asks for details

The foreigners had possessed Russian passports, which have been sought by the government of Russia. The Russian government has written to the federal government, asking for details of the incident, said Balochistan Home Secretary Zafar Baloch.

“A report will be submitted [to them] after the judicial inquiry concludes,” Baloch told The Express Tribune. He said that photocopies of the passports have been sent to the federal government.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2011.