Cricket Team Attack: Ensure presence of accused in court: LHC to police
LHC ordered police to ensure presence of all five accused in the attack of the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court has ordered the police to ensure presence of all five accused in the attack of the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009 before the court in a petition challenging their bails granted earlier by the court. The Punjab government had challenged the bails of Mohsin Rasheed, Muhammad Ashfaq, Javed Anwar, Abdullah and Obaidullah. On Tuesday, four of the accused were produced in the court but Obaidullah was not present. His counsel informed the court that he was in the custody of intelligence agencies and detained in Bahawalpur for undisclosed reasons.
The counsel, Rana Muhammad Arif, submitted that the accused had nothing to do with the incident. He said when the incident took place, they were already in custody of various agencies. He said the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) had rightly granted them bail as their role had not been established in the incident. The ATC had granted bail to the accused on June 7. In the appeal, the Prosecution Department had said granting them relief amounted to leniency towards terrorists. The petition stated that relief of bail will send the wrong message to the world. It said there was a possibility that the accused will jump the bail.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2011.
The Lahore High Court has ordered the police to ensure presence of all five accused in the attack of the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009 before the court in a petition challenging their bails granted earlier by the court. The Punjab government had challenged the bails of Mohsin Rasheed, Muhammad Ashfaq, Javed Anwar, Abdullah and Obaidullah. On Tuesday, four of the accused were produced in the court but Obaidullah was not present. His counsel informed the court that he was in the custody of intelligence agencies and detained in Bahawalpur for undisclosed reasons.
The counsel, Rana Muhammad Arif, submitted that the accused had nothing to do with the incident. He said when the incident took place, they were already in custody of various agencies. He said the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) had rightly granted them bail as their role had not been established in the incident. The ATC had granted bail to the accused on June 7. In the appeal, the Prosecution Department had said granting them relief amounted to leniency towards terrorists. The petition stated that relief of bail will send the wrong message to the world. It said there was a possibility that the accused will jump the bail.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2011.