ATC reserves verdict in Imran Farooq murder case
Court orders confiscation of MQM founder, Anwar Hussain’s movable, immovable properties
Dr Imran Farooq. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday completed the murder trial of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Dr Imran Farooq after five years and reserved the verdict, which will be announced on June 18
Judge Shahrukh Arjumand conducted the hearing of the case.
During the proceedings, the accused were presented in court through video link from Adiala Jail.
In his concluding arguments, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed apprised the judge that hearing of the case can be held in Pakistan according to the law. “The British government had objected to the death penalty. The Pakistan government has assured the UK that death penalty will not be awarded.
“The British witnesses have testified in court through video link. The evidence brought forth by the UK witnesses is acceptable.”
The FIA prosecutor said that bank accounts were opened in Pakistan and air tickets of the accused were also bought from Pakistan. “The accused are not British nationals, they are Pakistanis.”
The prosecutor said, “Our case is that the plot to murder Dr Imran Farooq was devised in Pakistan.“There is enough evidence available against MQM founder Altaf Hussain and Anwar Hussain to prove that they were involved in the murder of Dr Farooq. The accused should be punished in accordance with the law.”
The prosecutor pleaded the court to order the confiscation of movable and immovable properties of MQM’s founder in Pakistan. The court replied that the order has already been given.
Background
Dr Farooq, a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his apartment in London in September 2010.
Later in 2015, the FIA registered a case against Altaf Hussain for allegedly ordering the murder while nominating three other accused – Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali and Moazzam Ali. However, on May 13 the suspects retracted their confessional statements before ATC judge Arjumand and recorded their fresh statements at a hearing held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. The suspects decided not to present any witnesses in their defence.
A day earlier, counsels for the accused claimed that the alleged bank documents and attendance sheets of a United Kingdom university – presented by the FIA as evidence against the accused – are fake.
The counsel for Mohsin Ali said the FIA forced his client to confess to the crime under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). He said the FIA officials concocted the statement after taking a signature of the accused on a plain paper.
He said Dr Farooq was assassinated in London in 2010 but the FIA registered a case five years later. “Dr Imran Farooq was himself an absconder. The state had announced a bounty on him and he had a number of enemies,” he said.
The counsel said the statement of Dr Farooq’s wife was also full of contradictions. “In the statement that she gave before London Police, she accused MQM founder Altaf Hussain of the murder but in her statement submitted to the court she apparently retracted her claim,” he said.
He said his client Mohsin Ali had gone to London for higher education and has no connection with the murder. The counsel also pointed out that the sketch of the murderer made with the assistance of an eyewitness was not of his client.
The counsel for another accused Moazzam Ali said his client was a businessman who travelled a lot to the UK, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries for business dealings.
He said the FIA was trying to link the banking transaction of a businessman with the murder. He said Moazzam was part of the MQM but being associated with a political party is not a crime.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday completed the murder trial of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Dr Imran Farooq after five years and reserved the verdict, which will be announced on June 18
Judge Shahrukh Arjumand conducted the hearing of the case.
During the proceedings, the accused were presented in court through video link from Adiala Jail.
In his concluding arguments, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed apprised the judge that hearing of the case can be held in Pakistan according to the law. “The British government had objected to the death penalty. The Pakistan government has assured the UK that death penalty will not be awarded.
“The British witnesses have testified in court through video link. The evidence brought forth by the UK witnesses is acceptable.”
The FIA prosecutor said that bank accounts were opened in Pakistan and air tickets of the accused were also bought from Pakistan. “The accused are not British nationals, they are Pakistanis.”
The prosecutor said, “Our case is that the plot to murder Dr Imran Farooq was devised in Pakistan.“There is enough evidence available against MQM founder Altaf Hussain and Anwar Hussain to prove that they were involved in the murder of Dr Farooq. The accused should be punished in accordance with the law.”
The prosecutor pleaded the court to order the confiscation of movable and immovable properties of MQM’s founder in Pakistan. The court replied that the order has already been given.
Background
Dr Farooq, a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his apartment in London in September 2010.
Later in 2015, the FIA registered a case against Altaf Hussain for allegedly ordering the murder while nominating three other accused – Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali and Moazzam Ali. However, on May 13 the suspects retracted their confessional statements before ATC judge Arjumand and recorded their fresh statements at a hearing held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. The suspects decided not to present any witnesses in their defence.
A day earlier, counsels for the accused claimed that the alleged bank documents and attendance sheets of a United Kingdom university – presented by the FIA as evidence against the accused – are fake.
The counsel for Mohsin Ali said the FIA forced his client to confess to the crime under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). He said the FIA officials concocted the statement after taking a signature of the accused on a plain paper.
He said Dr Farooq was assassinated in London in 2010 but the FIA registered a case five years later. “Dr Imran Farooq was himself an absconder. The state had announced a bounty on him and he had a number of enemies,” he said.
The counsel said the statement of Dr Farooq’s wife was also full of contradictions. “In the statement that she gave before London Police, she accused MQM founder Altaf Hussain of the murder but in her statement submitted to the court she apparently retracted her claim,” he said.
He said his client Mohsin Ali had gone to London for higher education and has no connection with the murder. The counsel also pointed out that the sketch of the murderer made with the assistance of an eyewitness was not of his client.
The counsel for another accused Moazzam Ali said his client was a businessman who travelled a lot to the UK, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries for business dealings.
He said the FIA was trying to link the banking transaction of a businessman with the murder. He said Moazzam was part of the MQM but being associated with a political party is not a crime.