KARACHI:
An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi has handed down the death penalty to a Ranger accused of extrajudicial murder of a 22-year-old boy in Karachi in June.
At the final hearing of the two-month-long case on Friday, ATC-I judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso found accused Shahid Zafar, of the Abdullah Shah Ghazi unit of Pakistan Rangers, guilty of causing fatal injury to deceased Sarfraz Shah and sentenced him to death. Zafar, 35, has also been ordered to pay compensation worth Rs200,000 to Shah’s legal heirs.
Five other members of the same Pakistan Rangers unit and a civilian Afsar Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to pay Rs100,000 each to Shah’s heirs.
Rangers, the judgment said, are supposed to be “protectors in whose presence people feel safe and secure and if protectors become perpetrators ... it would certainly damage the perception of the general public about their action[s].”
Footage of the brutal killing, filmed by a television cameraman, was aired by all news channels and sparked public fury. So extreme was the outrage that the government took the rare step of removing the provincial chiefs of police and rangers in Karachi. More than 10,000 rangers patrol Karachi routinely.
(Read: Rangers shooting: Youth was unarmed when shot)
“This act [of the accused] not only damaged the reputation of an institution designed to protect people and property but also created a sense of insecurity at a large scale,” Khoso said, while announcing the verdict.
Relying on a number of case laws, the court held that “the acts of [the] accused were beyond any reasonable doubt and fell under provisions of Section 6 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 punishable under Section 7(a) of the said act”.
The court also reproduced the definition of terrorism: “Terrorism means the use of threat or action where the action falls within the meaning of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of ATA and creates a serious risk to safety of the public or a section of the public, or is designed to frighten the general public and thereby preventing them from coming out and carrying on their lawful trade and daily business and disrupt civil life”.
The prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused persons who failed to rebut the charges, the judgement said. “I, therefore, find all the accused guilty of murder of deceased Sarfraz Shah, an offence punishable under Section 7(a) of ATA 1997 read with Section 302 and Section 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code,” the judge pronounced.
The prosecution examined 20 witnesses in the case, five of whom were present at the time of killing, including the cameraman who filmed the incident. The defence produced only a few witnesses and all the accused refused to be examined on oath.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has also taken suo motu notice of the incident. The Supreme Court, declaring that “prima facie the incident falls within the ambit of terrorism”, appointed DIG Sultan A Khawaja as investigating officer. Investigators have been directed to submit a charge-sheet before the court.
Meanwhile, government prosecutor Mohammed Khan Buriro called the decision historic. “It shows no one is above the law,” he said. (With additional input from AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2011.
COMMENTS (144)
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' Laaton k bhoot, baaton sey nahi maantey...... ' There had to be an end to politeness,i guess. The ranger guy did the right thing. Karachi is becoming the breeding ground for local criminals. Today, a kid loots with a fake gun, tomorrow, he might loot with a real gun. Yes, the boy was begging for his life but what about; when he tried to touch ranger's gun ? (before getting shot) ? The rangers could have taken this act violent .. Karachi's situation was already very intense .. the rangers couldn't afford a chance... Time will always be an important factor.
The death penalty? Really?.One can clearly tell that this was neither premeditated and nor was the deceased an some random innocent bystander; it was clearly an accident which counts for manslaughter, NOT murder. The death penalty is too harsh a punishment and should be appealed against! And what about Qadri? Why is that taking so long when it is was clearly premeditated murder!
I hope courts will show same quickness in punishing terrorists also. So far they have dismayed people for letting all terrorist free and giving them another life to continue killing innocent. Such acts appear to be more of a vendetta of one piller of the state against other rather than serving justice. This is also a message of terrorists to Armed Forces of Pakistan about their influence with other state institutions.
Media inciting the people who in turn put immense pressure to hold accountable Rangers. That C division maniac was looting people, be it a fake he might have been carrying but the fact remains that a person can be robbed with even a fake weapon. All this would put immense pressure on Rangers for even shooting a real suspect or criminals because nobody would want to protect people while keeping their own lives at risk firstly from the criminals themselves and secondly from the idiotic media who would get them hanged if a mistake happens
good lesson
I hope Sarfraz Shah's mother get's to shoot Zafar, just like he did to her son and he dies a slow and painful death that he inflicted upon the victim.
Can we have one discussion without saying "So and so is not Muslim because of such and such"? Seriously, stop abusing religion. The founders of our religion would be disgusted if they saw how you guys throw around religion as an excuse for bigotry and hatred.
Just because you disagree with them doesn't mean you get to say "Well you mustn't be Muslim". I can't comment on who is Muslim and not but I can say that anyone using such remarks is an idiot.
Am I the only one thinking that the punishment was a bit too harsh? The Rangers, Police, Army, are expected to lay their life on the line day in, day out. Targetted by extremists wearing burqas with suicide vests, and villified by their own public. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. This was no premeditated murder, so why the death penalty? And 6 life sentences for the other rangers, just because they were standing close by that day? If Sarfras Shah had not died from the bullet wound, he should have been executed for sheer stupidity. Lunging at nervous soldiers with their fingers on rifles, in a violent city is not the sharpest idea that springs to mind.
Their are courts to decide the fate of the person. extra judicial killing can not b allowed in any society. If military personnels have to decide about the fate of any person then these courts should be finished. rangers person deserved this type of treatment. Now Supreme court also has to play her role bcz Ranger,s guys will appeal in the supreme court and last but not the least the family of Sarfaraz shah will b offered headmoney and will be under pressure by the rangers like the case in Raymond devis. so according to my opinion so far its a good decion. such a kind of decision should come against the people involved in Kharotabad incident where the Col of FC was involved in shooting at innocent civlian. God bless pakistan
Finally a step in the direction of rule of law. Give credit to prosecutor and the court.
great decision.well done court.
good to see that sentences can be passed so quickly. What about other cases? Salman Taseer's case? Everybody including the media quickly declined to take a position there unlike this case?
@M.Akthar: so you think army are criminals? don't forget if it hadn't been for this army we would have been wiped out long back in 1965, if it hadn't been for this army the taliban would have taken over pakistan a long time ago,so don't criticize your own army because the countries who lost their armies also lost their countries to savage invaders, people like absolutely disgust me
What a useless decision. Surprisingly, in our country you kill an innocent man, you're free to go. And if you kill a criminal being responsible for the security you'll be sentenced to death. May Allah give us some decency in our way of thinking.
All of the involved ranger personnel should be hang publicly
.
@Kashif:
Brother, That picture you just portrayed of TALIBAN!! is that you have been told by the MEDIA! Please do think over it. The Afghan Taliban served justice in streets that is why they had eliminated 100% cocaine production in their reign in Afghanistan. CHECK UN reports for that!!! Street justice by the LAW ENFORCMENT PERSONNEL seems quite right!!! My simple and humble reason is that they are there to punish the criminals. Do you really think that if by LAW, the rangers are given authority to kill robbers/looters on sight you would fear your mobile snatched at any time??? I'm definitely sure, all looters would abandon streets if such situation a LAW exists...
@maestro: Brother, do you really think he would have been tried? People in powerful positions who are corrupt want to DEFACE the army and its branches. They backed the victim and DEFACED the army... Its simple for politicians who are powerful, have powerful friends and CLEARLY FOREIGN FUNDING right in to their FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNTs....
@T Khan: Well said Brother!
However, what about the "BORI BAND LASHEIN" that are found in Karachi, who is sentenced to death or even imprisoned for life over these crimes???
@M.Akthar:
Brother, FIRST OFF! Our beloved prophet S.A.W.W. has strictly prohibited from calling anyone KAFIR (even though the ULEMA in our country do so, but religion is not from ULEMA but from the PROPHET S.A.W.W.) Please open AHADEETH books and read... See what QUR'AAN says. Learn from the source, you are lucky to have AUTHENTIC, TRUE source right in the reach of your hands.
Secondly, who has given the power to the politicians and their criminal "for hire" assassins to continue killing all over the city and country????
Brother, do think about it!
Brother, for a moment, just Imagine yourself to be a victim in the situation, would you want someone to be serving justice at that moment trying to solve the matter or rather he be making a VIDEO of it???
Journalism has taken a WIDE WRONG step these days. Their purpose used to be solvers not exploiters. And unfortunately, how much do you know of the LAW anyway, or the ACTUAL CRIME SCENE, or THE PEOPLE INVOLVED there. Would you want someone from outside just watching a video of your victimization JUDGE You???????????????????
Please brother, do ponder!
@Iftikhar-ur-Rehman: Do you really think that criminals in PAKISTAN are proven guilty??? What about the politicians... How many have been proven guilty? And those who are proven, how many are actually and truly PUNISHED????
Please, brother, Do think about it!
@Justice?: Has anyone of your family ever gone to Police to "FILE A CASE"??? Do you have any Idea whatsoever is the situation of our Law System??? The case filer is arressted him/herself for trying to report the crime cuz the criminal has "POLICE BACKING". You may be looking at the "BIG PICTURE" but forgetting about the ground realities.
I ask not, request not, plead not, BEG you to think over what you are saying!! Cuz if what you are saying is right, what do you "JUSTIFY" for the people who have tortured and left to die, not only killed, probably thousands only in KARACHI!! and you know who am I talking about, our MERCILESS, PITILESS, RUTHLESS politicians. What is the JUSTIFIED SENTENCE for them????
@owais not WE, its "rangers" need to do it. and not by authoritarian way. they are not volunteers who need our favor. we feed them. they use countrys money and that makes them a looter worst than criminals.
@owais not WE, its "rangers" need to do it. and not by authoritarian way. they are not volunteers who need our favot. we feed them. they use countrys money and that makes them a looter worst than criminals.
While justice is done at least at the first stage of judicial process and in a sense that the court had punished the culprits. In reality this justice is incomplete until the government grants the fair compensation to the family of the victim and this should be done without requiring the victim's family to go to courts.
Justice is done, if he was let off, tomorrow they would have killed an innocent and then all those people supporting the rangers would have cried for justice. It is personally shocking to me that there are ppl in this forum who are supporting the rangers on this, it breaks my heart what the society has done to the mentality of these people. I should thank god for being in a sane & normal society, even if it is non-muslim....their mentality is million times better than the upcoming generation of Pakistan
JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED!! THIS JUDGEMENT HELPS RESTORING PEOPLE'S CONFIDENCE IN OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM.
I do believe that it is within the mandate of the Rangers and the Police to shoot anyone that tries to confiscate their weapon, which the dacoit here clearly had tried to do from the Rangers personnel who subsequently shot him (this can be verified from the full video, which you can find online).
Now when will they do the same to Mumtaz Qadri??
Dear All,
Look closely at the picture(of police) I can tell who has lanat on his face and who doesn't,
our media is imposing wrong voice or Public. we need media revolution first
The issue is not that weather he was having fake gun or real the way he was killed brutally is absolutely wrong.and justice served which raised a ray of hope in people that still justice is not completely vanish from Pakistan.
@Frank: "This was a trial by media. Utterly disgraceful. Justice has not been done.".....PLEASE explain what you mean by "trail by media?" I agree with you that Justice is not done(will not be complete) as this incident is ingrained in peoples memory.They will never forget the extent of vulgarity another human being can go to.That is a heavy price to pay.Whats utterly disgraceful is that you don't condone murder!! We are "animals" in a jungle if we don't respect another human being or use our brains.
me thinks shah would have been brought to the hospital if he tried to escape all rangers!
May Allah have mercy on this nation, for surely we are transgressors ...
Ranger Shahid Zafar is too cute to die. Judge please release this very handsome Ranger.
The Rangers did what they are trained to do just like in any other part of the world. If they are threatened by anyone (weapon fake or real) or is this case Sarfaraz even grabbed rangers gun at one point, ofcourse they will shoot. If Sarfaraz had snatched the gun and shot the ranger instead, everyone would be mocking the rangers. Its sad and not rite that he died but Sarfaraz braught this on himself and it doesnt matter how many times he shouted that the gun was fake. He should have just followed the orders and laid on the ground rite away. I dont know if justice has been served but this whole thing is as ugly as it gets.
@Owais: Killing someone at point-blank range is against any justice system. no body knew if the guy was indeed a criminal or an innocent. When rangers found him. He almost begged for his life. Why did the rangers shoot him. Only his killing was justified if he had attacked anyone. Rangers misuse their power and that to a merciless killing deserves punishment to the rangers.
Wow that was quick! What about Mumtaz Qadri, when will he hang?
i think death penalty should not be given. Life in prison was right for all.
@M I Khan: What's wrong with you?? So you are suggesting that shooting someone and leaving them to bleed to death is ok!!! I suppose it was not rangers duty to call for medical assistance as their salaries are paid by some private organisation, and not the state?? Wake up man! No wonder your country is in a mess with people like you and your grasp of what is right or wrong!!!!
The Rangers should be held accountable for their actions !!!! They are not above law!!
It was a political verdict, to avert pressure and critique from media, the judge has successfully passed the buck to the higher courts. One has to admit that the punishment is too harsh. During these times of crises we need to keep the moral of our security agencies high. They are already doing a very tough job in one of the most challenging security climate in the world. Though there should be oversight against excessive force, but not at the cost of damaging the moral of the the forces. While we have totally ignored, the sacrifices made the heroism showed. Unfortunately the media has played a very negative role in the process.
DEATH SENTENCE IS TOO MUCH! Afterall he was hit in the leg and didn't die immediately. He died because he was not provided timely treatment. In that sense the shooting Ranger is not wholly responsible. Secondly the dead guy is not completely innocent. He was involved in unlawful activities. Thirdly while the court so promptly decided this case why the case of Salman Taseer's murdrer hanging for so long? After all the governor's killer did a more criminal act than did the Rangers?
What would happen if weapon would real and Shah kill those ladies? You people should understand that media is projecting Shah was innocent but he was not infact. Rangers did a great job and court must take its decision back
35000 people have been murdered by terrorists in Pakistan since 2001 - how many terrorists have these courts sentenced to death?
I think the Sarfraz family should forgive the rangers guy! Let it be a message of love and Muslim Brotherhood! Hanging the guy wont bring their beloved one back! Rangers should try to compensate the family according to the rules of Islam! If Raymond Davis can be forgiven why cant this poor guy be forgiven! He has no doubt done BIG wrong but he is also son of the soil! We dont want two mothers crying instead of one!
So let me get this straight .... you get life in prison if you report a person who is allegedly trying to rob you with a (Fake) gun.
And this is what we call justice. Just because the chap was later shot and killed by the rangers does not have anything to do with the person who reported him....
I pray Allah sets us on the right path and Has mercy on us, For we are Transgressors...
Proud of Judiciary!! Good Job Judges!! Justice has Been SERVED!!
they didn't desrve death atleast
Although I support rangers on this. I am just tired of cellphones and wallet being snatched. they even snatch jeweelery of women neck and ears without any respect. these robers should be made example off. but because its a fine line i believe rangers should be punished but not by death or life sentence.
justice is equal for every one. No one is superior or inferior in the eye of law. So any one killed some one, he is liable for this act. he is liable before Allah and also liable for the law of land, And if sarfraz shah commits any offence then rangers or police arrested him and punished according the law of land, , He has no right to punished himself. so i think that ATC court decide rightly,, , , , from khurram shahzad
There are two aspect of picture. a) The boy carrying the gun. So he must had been treated in accordance with the law. Which never took place as he was killed in cold blood on the spot. The moment he died, in all technicality, the boy's crime and charges against him go null and void.
b) The ranger personal killing the boy. By no power or authority or justification the ranger personal could kill any person person. Unless, the boy was a direct threat to the ranger personal or any civilian at that very instance.
My belief is, Justice has been served!
Agreed with the majority of commentors here - Yes and Rangers should not have authority to kill innocent civilians or unarmed/unprofessional looters. These unprofessional looters could be beaten and then investigation could be completed in Jail by Judiciary.
But Rangers Yes we do support you Kill those filthy TARGET KILLERS in Karachi and everywhere we are with you, Please SHOT Those Targer Killers as you SHOT Sarfraz Shah but dont Shot another Sarfraz Shah.
We Support Rangers should have Shot at sight orders to those Target Killers not to Innocent Civilians
As for as the law of the land is concerned, except the court with territorial jurisdiction and under the constitution,no any other institution have legal authority to shot and kill any citizen of the country.
In case, he had a weapon that was not real,then there were many other legal option could be adopted,but they made a mistake deliberately to take his life that was not justified in any way.
In fact, situation of the city compelled them to shoot despite of it they have no enough circumstantial evidence to show that he was prima facia criminal.
It seem, they tried to show efficiency but dont knew they were committing a heinous crime.
And now decide about Qadri too who admits killing
When is the killer of Salman taseer going to be sentenced? or is it because the rangers have no Religious Parties behind them?
This justice is attributed to the the media,the camra men. Well done media.This justice is attributed to the the media,the camra men. Well done media.
Looking forward for the journalist killed by ISI (doubtful)
This is all a dog-and-pony show to keep awam happy. I will believe it when the sentence is actually carried out. I can bet that after a few months the rangers will be quietly let out and the stupid awam wont know or care! What a sham! If they really mean justice, have the public execution of the ranger and every year show the other ranger sentence for life in prison, that he is actually in prison!
@Owais: i guess you really do not understand the burden of taking precious life...irrespective of whether or not they are guilty...even if sarfraz shah was not innocent, he deserved a trail and necessary punishment afterwards...while it can be said that sarfraz shah was a victim of the same environment of guns that he might have helped create, still, this does not mean he deserved to die this way
I cried when I saw the video of the kid being shot. He died with grace and nobody came to help him. The rangers deserve nothing less than capital punishment.
Hopefully, this incident and the verdict will make others learn that killing someone innocent is a sin and deserves severe punishment. Hopefull the verdict will result in a calmer and inshallah better Karachi.
Not only Rohail is with Rangers the whole nation is with them till the time they are following Pakistan's constitution and follow the ethics. Because it is the constitution which declares them law enforcement agencies.
Even if Shahid Sarfaraz was posing as a threat to the Rangers at that moment, they could have left at just shooting him in the leg and taken him to the hospital right away. What happened was completely and utterly un-called for. Inhuman beasts, these men!
I salute camera man of Awaz TV---who had shown extraordinary courage to make the courts able to interven---- otherwise due to weak prosecution and lingering trials before these courts thousands of Pakistanis are eagerly seeking for justice since ages.
Bravo and Viva judge sahib. You have rightly passed sentence on the guilty. Moreover, the sentence has not been delayed for years as is the case in Pakistan. The evidence was as clear as daylight and one need not go anywhere in search for the truth. The rangers were guilty of cold blooded murder.
Since Sarfaraz was a petty thief and not a felon he could have been made a 'murga' publicly and let off with a rap on the knuckles. But cold blooded murder is unpardonable and the SHC and the SC should pass down speedy verdicts. Because as the saying goes, "justice delayed is justice denied." Then there will be clemency appeals to the President and that is where it will get stuck indefinitely.
One can only pray for the soul of the departed and for the rangers that future employment in the rangers should thoroughly scrutinized for racial content and it is time Karachiites were given a chance, Salams to our Pakistan.
One man murdered another man, and now the whole society wants to murder this man........what is all this senseless and a fatuous justice? The cold blooded death penalty for this ranger in the name of the People of Pakistan is a far bigger insanity and crime against humanity. Please exclude me from this verdict!
Finally justice served. I believe all (or atleast the guy who kicked and handed over the boy and the person who pulled him away from the shooter) should also be given death sentences.
No doubt even if the boy was a robber he should not have been treated this way, but it goes both ways.. we have repeatedly read (and seen) news about robbers being caught and killed/burned alive by mobs in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan. They are also equally wrong.
Similarly last ramadam the mob which stoned to death two hafiz kids (for a petty quarrel in a cricket match) should also be given death sentences and speedy justice should also be given to their family.
@Rohail: Yes, indeed ---- "what about Qadri" and all those sickos who support him?!
@Owais: so in your opinion the guy was a major threat to 6 armed ranger personnel and he had easily gotten hold of the gun? and even when he was shot, it was alright to let him bleed and not taken to the hospital on time? Was it all justified? Yes one can debate about why other cases delay in the courts an so on. Yes this case was wrapped up soon but for the right reasons, and it does make one wonder why media pick and choose to highlight one case of brutality more than the other. Media role is open for criticism but this does make the judgment of this particular case wrong by any means.
The biggest sin on earth is shirk (idol-worship, to associate anyone or anything with Allah) and the second biggest sin is killing an innocent person.
To kill a person under some unjust pretexts is such a great and terrible sin before Allah that to kill one person is like to kill the whole mankind.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says: "If all the beings on the earth and in the skies come together to kill a believing person, Allah puts every one of them to Hell in order to protect that one innocent believers right" (Tirmizi, Diyat 8, (1398)
Rangers should have arrested Sarfraz Shah if he was not innocent and hand him over to the Court. It was wrong for them to kill him.
This sentence needs to be conducted in letter and spirit so that no one does such injustice in future.
May be a routine decision by a judge but it is a giant leap for our judiciary. A death sentence to a member of our mighty establishment. Unbelievable.
@Rohail: You are truly a very low quality human being and all those who recommend your comment. Hang all six rangers and not just one.
@abdussamad: Agreed. you can go to the courts and can find plenty of case that were filled a decade ago but did not get a single chance of hearing till now.
great decision!!!
justice been done... but why didn't it work in Damond Davis case????
does anyone remember mumtaz qadri??? this man was supposedly the brother of a cameraman in some news organization that is why he was given so much coverage
The comments above make me sick! Every man is innocent unless proven guilty. If Sarfaraz was indeed a criminal, his crime should have been proved. Who gave the Rangers the right to act as judge and executioner? And then they watched on as he bled to death. If it were up to me, all accused would have been given the death penalty.
@M.Akthar: dude, this page is to discuss the topic. Don't get personal
Raymond Davis...Blood Money....Freedom
BTW the ranger personnel did not shot him because he was found looting. he shot him because looter was not obeying the order of the on-duty ranger officer. (I hope you remember it when Shahid Zafar ordered him to sit on the floor) instead, sarfaraz disobeyed and tries to grab Shahid's weapon (another major crime i.e. trying to take control of the weapon of a law enforcing officer). Now, had that looter grabbed Shahid's weapon and opened fire in the park and (god forbid) 10 innocent people lost their lives, would you still say that rangers should not have killed that criminal? Shahid Zafar was only proactive in his approach to save other innocent people from getting seriously injured.
What if the "Sarfraz'' guy didn't have a ''nakli gun".He would have shot the Ranger Official.So this way the Ranger Official was protecting himself.No ONE Knew that he(Sarfraz) was or wasn't a killer at that time.It was after one or two months that we got to know that Sarfraz had a ''nakli''gun and he was just portraying himself as a Robber.
I don't know why the people think that the justice is done.Only God and Sarfraz knew about it.We have absolutely no idea what went wrong.We should better know the story first!
Sarfaraz Shah was murdered in cold blood. He was in full physical control of Rangers. There was no justification to shoot him. If he had committed any crime or had a criminal record, the matter should have been properly adjudicated.
We have yet to see whether at the end of the day, the sentences announced will be carried out or at any of the appeal stages, they will remain unpunished. I do not have much confidence in our judicial system. The top man is too busy with his political agenda and does not have any time to cleanse his domain of all the black sheep stuffed therein.
Will any Judge hearing Salman Taseer case have the courage to do justice? I do not expect much. The Judges & Prosecutors are under pressure from extremists who have no right to call themselves muslims. They are terrorist butchers who have no respect for Islamic principles.
@shany: do you know that our law has so many loop holes that any influential person can dodge our justice system easily. In todays world, a person with connection in the media might be the most influential person. same is the case with sarfaraz shah. One more thing, I am also against killing people but my point is that we need to restore the fear for the rangers and other law enforcing agencies so that we could get rid of criminals like sarfaraz shah and many others like him who torches this city every now and then
nothing is going to happen. just wait and watch!!!
Its a Great lesson to Rangers and Police as well, that your duty is to Serve and guard the Nation not to bitterly kill them, If there wasn't any footage this case would be drowned like many in the history.
Justice is served!! great step moving forward...
@Rohail: we hate them
justice is done - rangers cannot take law in their hands - we support the media man and the court of Pakistan -------thanks GOD Rangers are behind the bars ----
@Umair: wake up Umair and be reasonable. Even If he was a thief, rangers and police had no right to kill him specially when he is begging for his life.
What we should understand is that the intention of shooting may be a teaching a lesson and is not personal vendetta and for this death penalty is not all justified.
Is Mr. Sarfaraz an Innocent? .What is his Past? Why he was carrying a Gun? Did he robbed or killed Someone with the same gun.....? Who will decide...
@ Dr Faraz Every one has their own view point and its always nice to remain with in limits and behave like humans. appreciate if u consider ths advice next time.
An excellent verdict... Rangers & Police think they are GOD.. This will give them a a moment to think what they are doing in this city,,,,
They got what they deserved
lets see if there's an appeal to higher court or presidential pardon....... the beauties of democracy is there to save the culprits........
Just read the news in Pakistan. All you find is death, killing, bombing, rape, murder, lynching, riots, massacre. By the Army, Rangers, Politicians, Militants.
This is the daily news. Is there any good news? Economic growth, education or scientific achievements? Even the achievements like launch of satellite is done by the chinese which we claim credit of.
All news this despondency is due to one reason, we dont follow the true islam. We have to work to establish the caliphate & put our trust in Allah, the merciful, not in politicians and our army. Till then, Allah will punish us like this.
I thought cases in our courts take a decade or more. How come this case was settled so soon? Must be a record for Pakistan.
To all those who say that the killing was justified. Go get a life u losers. I'll never defend any guy like the one who was shot because I don't know the reality but then again that's the whole point. What are courts for if me and you decide the punishments on the streets. Even if the guy was robber, he should have been given the sentence accordingly by court after all he ain't zardari's cousin that he would have skipped the punishment. And the present situation in the country can force any normal human being to do such acts because of so many reasons. Sometimes people do bad things because of right reasons. I mean of course nobody can be left unpunished because he killed someone just for Rs-100 but he should be presented in front of the bloody court and if rangers won't follow the law then who will .. NO OFFENCE ..
To All Those Who Didnt Cheer On This NEWS.
Have you guys ever heard of law ? no law enforcement agencies have right to shoot anyone without taking em to court, and if you guys followed UK riot scenes you might ve seen people threatening police and throw sticks stones, yet i didnt heard a new of any fire shots being fired at violent criminal rioters.
NO Civilized nation do that kinda stuff what rangers did to that kid, if he was criminal take em to freaking courts ... if he is snatching your gun thn shot em in the leg and atleast take em to hospital ... thy let em bleed thr and die ... that is pure terrorism, people of the area were terrorized too.
Who says there is no law in the country?
The court has announced its historic decision. Justice will be done in due course of time.
The case if an eye opener for all such people who think they are above the law and can hush-up similar cases by using their connections or power.
Allah-o-Akbar – One person will be hanged till death and the remaining five will serve the life imprisonment.
Family of Sarfaraz Shah must witness the hanging.
The dead passed his 9th Class Examination after he was brutally killed. One never knows that he may have become an honourable citizen of Pakistan and would have served the country in best possible manners, but the Rangers terrorists took his life, just for nothing.
I hope that more people will not act as Afsar Khan and would not hand over the iccocent people either to the Police and the Rangers.
I would like to fight for the rights of the victims till my last breath in order to get the justice done with the family members of Sarfaraz Shah.
Oh.. for a change this was a speedy verdict!! A good news after a long time.
ppl who are saying k rangers should not do this..etc etc.. if you had lost someone by these snatchers ..than you may know what happens
Media pressure or no pressure, an actual gun or a fake, a looter or not; no authority has the right to blatantly kill someone without any trial whatsoever! If he was a criminal, they should have taken him to a court; but alas, our law-enforcers are somewhat deeply inspired by the Taliban.
Yes the incident was an “accident” and not a planned murder. Why the hell one need to plan if they can easily kill anytime.
@Umair & Owais, even if he was looting with a toy guy, who is ranger to make decision to kill a young guy who is asking for pity. They could send him to police, but we did see how it was been handled by them. Kudos to the recorder, otherwise just a two line news of another target killer would have flowed in local paper.
finally a result is out...but i want to say that no one has authority to kill anyone like this..they should be taken to court..but on the same side we have a situation in our country that ppl are snatching phones cars even they are going to court..they know they will be freed ..so circle is going on and on.. so THEY HAVE DONE RITE..SO ALL OTHER involved in this should also learn . what if the guy kills some one while snatching something and runs away...than we will be saying negative about rangers/police etc...
What about Qadri?
@waqqas iftikhar:
thats true at least three hospitals all within a 5 minute drive.
What level do we have degrade? Surprising to see people justifying extra judicial killing. Shooting him and letting him die in front of his eyes is heinous crime. Bravo Judge sahab! you didn't succumb to immense pressure!
@Rehan Ali:
Our president has not permitted any hangings in the country since he came to power and he doesnt intend too.
Having said that a colleague of mine upon hearing the sentence commented that he was certain that the rangers personnell would be eventually found not guilty by a superior court and released. The way things goi dont think he was incorrect. Sarfaraz Shah even if he had a gun had been disarmed, at that point eh was no longer a threat and instead of shooting the rangers could simply have overpowered him by force which wouldnt have been too difficult for six rangers expesially given the scrawny physique of Sarfaraz Shah.
Justice has been done...
Finally! Hope the verdict is carried out
@Kashif: .... Justice only has credibility when it is across the board. What about the famous Hadith that we never fail to quote about the Holy Prophet saying that he would have cut off Fatima's (RA) hand if she had been the one to steal. Those rangers should be punished, that is not the argued point here I suppose, but why haven't there been anything done about the Quetta killings??? or as you yourself mentioned the public lynching of the two brothers??? Where is justice in those cases and why is the only case that gets some results is the one that the media has a feature on every day and the rest is swept under the carpet??? Our problem is that our knee jerk reaction is to get emotional and talk in a manner that people from other nations these days refer to as 'typical Muslim reaction' where we are ready to end the discussion in two powerful sentences and then those who don't agree can go to...whereever . Reason and calmness is the key to solving problems in the world, until we understand that we will keep spiraling in to this vicious hole of adrenaline powered out of control emotions.
the shooting could have been 'heat of the moment', 'accident' what have you?....but this is pre-meditated first degree murder simply because they let the kid bleed to death for an hour after shooting him when there were two hospitals right across the road and his gun shot wounds were not fatal.
Did media pressure have any role to play in this verdict?
This thief did not kill anyone, and it was the duty of those six or more Rangers to ARREST him, once they had disarmed him. Otherwise, lets do away with courts and appoint our police/ranger forces national judges, and then maybe some hot head rangers will decide to just kill young people on 'suspicion' or maybe they'll 'imagine' they are armed... the list is endless. If it was their job to kill people who pose a REAL threat to this city, then why haven't they killed even ONE person responsible for all the killings in Karachi in the last month? They stand on the outskirts of the violent areas and do what? Exactly nothing! While innocent people die. - I don't approve of the death penalty (unless it relates to the killing of children) but life for these guys? Absolutely!
@Umair and Owais I disagree with you. Even if he was looting he hadn't killed anyone and neither Shariah nor Pakistani law allows killing someone in return for looting. Those ranger personnel took the law into their own hands, if they caught him looting he should have been brought to the trial. I am relived that justice has been done in this case. This was a murder. Think of this, if these authorities are allowed to take law into their hands they are sure to exploit it it by putting a label of criminal on anyone and killing them.
where is the justice for salman taseer?? why hasn't his murderer been given the death sentence as yet? is justice in pakistan only for the religous extremists? when will the horrific persecution of secular pakistanis end?
The ppl gvng excuses abt Sarfaraz being a criminal n tht the rangers did right ....these r the same sick rotten clutch tht support killing of Sialkot brothers...
Well hard to comment, yes agreed rangers has not right to execute pple like this but then what about looters who kill people every day. If this man sarfaraz shah was involved in this then he deserved the fate he met.
This was a trial by media. Utterly disgraceful. Justice has not been done.
Justice is done in ths particular case....Sarfaraz was just a kid n even if he was a culprit he deserve a decent trial...he must nt b shot or even slapped wthout a court inquiry until unless he was a direct threat to lives of jawans...justice is done justice is done justice is done
To all the people saying that he was a robber. Stop giving pathetic excuses. You live in 21st century not in the 16th century. Street justice should be discouraged and its participants severely punished. Criminals should be tried in courts. Remember, when Mughees and Muneeb were tortured to death in streets of Sialkot just on the 'suspicion' of being robbers? Maybe that's the justice you people want to bring to Pakistan. Think about a time when you will be falsely blamed for being a robber and lynched to death in your neighborhood. You want that to happen? I hope not.. Stop being a bloody Taliban. Because that's what Taliban do, execute people in streets. Then what's the difference between the Taliban and Rangers?
@ Owais...Sarfraz didn't murder anyone with his fake gun. He didn't deserve death. Even if he was looting people in the park, he didn't deserve to be killed. Which law recommends death for a robber? Real criminals won't have fear by witnessing such incidents because most of them are either protected by the law enforcement agencies themselves or supported by our dear political parties. As far as this case is concerned, I think justice has been served. Because even if they had fired in self-defense they should have had the dignity and respect for humanity to take him to the hospital. They instead waited and watched him die. Sick people..got what THEY DESERVED!
Even if he is not innocent, the Rangers had no business killing him. In a civilized world, people are not killed for robbing. We should not lose objectivity by being emotional. Justice has been served!
@Owais:
Sorry, even if he was trying to rob people with a fake gun, he should have been arrested and tried. Shooting and killing in this kind of extra-judicial manner sets a very dangerous precedent for the already trigger happy rangers and corrupt policemen. This should be a lesson to THEM that they are their to PROTECT AND SERVE the public not the other way around! Everyone knows getting stopped by the police/security agencies anywhere in the country results in fear.
Justice is served. Even if he was not innocent, Rangers had no authority to kill him the way they did and then let him bleed to death. Two wrongs cant make it right.
Technically speaking,..given that the man was not 'surrendering' in the sense that he kept coming at the rangers, even though he was trying to save his life by begging them, but the security personnel are authorized to use force if the suspect does not obey their commands...given the situation in Karachi, its not hard to imagine the psychological tension thee men face every day. Where they went wrong was that after over powering him by shooting him in the legs he should have immediately be taken to the hospital. Letting a man bleed to death, be he a suspected criminal or innocent is against the basics of humanity. Its a fine line that our security forces are walking thee days...a fine line that can very easily get blurred by the out of control situation in our country.
Rehman Malik says he's given shoot to kill orders The criminal has a gun I hope other criminals like him shoot the judge
Gen Kiyani if you do not protect your troops they will not protect you. Sad and disappointed
"The Anti-Terrorism Court hearing the murder case of Sarfaraz Shah awarded capital punishment to the Rangers official who shot the youth, while the others have been given life imprisonment."
Will the people mow shower these rangers with rose petals?
Umair & Owais, even if the weapon is fake, the rangers have shot him and Sarfaraz was begging them to take to the hospital before death. Is it right? & who has given powers to the rangers to kill? Do you chaps have something called a heart? Would you shoot anyone & watch him bleed to death? What`s the difference between you and the taliban? People like you are the ones who killed the sialkot brothers! Undoubtedly, you cannot be a muslim as your name suggest, probably you are Kuffar.
@Owais Do not think like a sick. No body has authority of killing anyone anywhere. If he was looting, 6 rangers can get him to jail and then in court. Kids do lot of stuff. Police do more corruption. No one is innocent. P.S. Hats off to the Cameramen guy. He is awesome. Hats ov.
The person who shot Sarfraz Shah got what he deserved and so did the others. Even if Sarfraz Shah was a thief or a thug he should not have been killed like the way he was killed.He could have survived if he had been taken to hospital and would now have been serving jail sentence( if proven guilty)
We support the Rangers!
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Just shows the failure of the system.. If this keeps up, rangers will be on a shooting spree around town, this is NOT justice, they did NOT do their jobs right! Petty thieves are not shot, they are taken in, questioned, victim and eyewitness accounts are collected, a case is filed if there is enough proof! Lawlessness is abound (well maybe I'd want to rob too with the current market situation, where inflation has sky-rocketed)..Every citizen has the right to plead their case.. if they don't - its not a democracy and its not fair to the victim and his family. No where in the world is this considered humane or correct! We gotta see the bigger picture and not just stay stuck in our blissful ignorance (cos it didn't happen to us)!
Seriously, I cant understand why the media is portraying Sarfraz Shah as an innocent boy when he was looting public in the park with a fake gun (as he also admits when he said "Naqlee hai yaar, Naqlee hai". In my opinion, these ranger personnel did the right thing so that there is fear in the hearts of the criminals who are killing innocent people in Karachi lately.
I think u people has not seen complete video. There was a weapon in his saying.. When he was saying ''Nakli hay yaar'.