KARACHI:
All the Rangers men, who were booked in the case, killed Sarfraz Shah, deposed Abdul Salam Soomro, the cameraman of Awaz Television channel, before Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso of the Anti-Terrorism Court I on Wednesday.
Prosecution witness Soomro, who recorded the two-minute, two-second long video of the killing, was examined by Special Public Prosecutor Muhammad Khan Buriro. Soomro told the court that the anchor of the programme Walk ‘n Talk informed him that a man in white clothes was dragging and punishing a young boy in a shirt and jeans. “He asked me to film the incident,” Soomro said. “I saw the Rangers at the gate of the park and they encircled the guy and pointed their guns at him. The boy was begging for his life but one of them fired and injured the boy. He was bleeding and no one was coming near due to fear of the Rangers. I too went [back to] record the programme.” Soomro did not inform the police at ‘15’ as he was terrified. “I could not interview other people about the incident as all of them left the park soon after.”
Soomro also testified that the video screened in court was the one he had recorded, that it was unedited and original.
To a question by a defence lawyer, he said that he was not acquainted with Salik Shah, Sarfraz’s brother, and did not know the police officers investigating the case. “I am deposing before the court as a responsible citizen and according to my conscience,” he replied to a suggestion by the defence, who said that he was siding with the complainant.
Soomro also informed the court he has been receiving threats since the incident. The court put off the proceedings till Thursday morning at 10:30 am.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2011.
COMMENTS (4)
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An unarmed civilian was unprofessionally and deliberately slapped around, humiliated and then shot and killed by "Law enforcers" who are supposed to abide by the law and apply the law to others. The law did not allow the Rangers to beat and humiliate let alone "punish" him by shooting him. Only a court can award punishment after a fair trial. The rangers are prima facie guilty of murder and should be awarded the same penalty as any other gang of murderers. The camera man is worthy of admiration to have come forward as a witness despite danger to his life.
Media telecasted edited video, resulting in demoralizing the security agencies. I request the media to stop dammaging the image of Rangers.I think that only ranger was playing some role in keeping peace & security in the city other wise police is jsut performing protocol duties for politicians & bureacrates or filling their own pockets on check points. Who is resposible for murders and robbery incidents happended after this incidet. What we get in total to exploit the incident.
“I am deposing before the court as a responsible citizen and according to my conscience,” ..... said Mr Soomro the cameraman. Should he have not, as a responsible citizen, put down his camera and helped the bleeding man who was shot??? The cameraman had a steady hand and seemed unshaken by the incident. There was no knee-jerk response from him at all. He did not even call out to his team to help this guy who was bleeding to death.... And how come he was afraid to call the police when he was not shivering in the presence of the trigger-happy rangers?.... Well done Mr. Responsible Citizen WIth a Conscience!
the report does not mention that Mr Soomro said "Rangers killed the man in cold blood". this seems a sheer mistake on behalf of the sub-editor who edited the report and assigned the headline. As a student of journalism I would request Pl make sure that such harsh mistakes are not made as it can affect such cases.