Pakistan

Tribune Take: Infamy, hero worship for acquitted Lal Masjid cleric

Lal Masjid cleric and his wife see court cases against them to be more of a "nuisance". Watch now.

Mahawish Rezvi November 09, 2011

In today’s episode of the Tribune Take we take a look at the recent acquittal of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz.

Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, advocated Supreme Court of Pakistan, discusses how the prosecution failed to meet the burden of proof required to convict Abdul Aziz.

Ahmed says in such cases an acquittal is expected due to a lack of witnesses willing to testify against the accused. He also cites the Lal Masjid counter narrative running in favour of the Lal Masjid cleric in this regard.

The Express Tribune correspondent Saba Imtiaz, who interviewed the Lal Masjid cleric and his wife earlier this year, adds that the couple perceived such court cases against them to be more of a "nuisance" and are very aware of their popularity, which has been amplified with government registered cases against them.

Watch today’s episode here, or click the video thumbnail in the right hand column.

The Tribune Take daily news web show will appear on the tribune.com.pk home page.

The Take will feature in-depth interviews and analysis with editors and reporters who are covering the major stories, exploring front page events and major ledes. The news analysis covers the way The Express Tribune examines a story, how we cover it and why.

COMMENTS (7)

Yuri Kondratyuk | 13 years ago | Reply

Isn't hero worship rather similar to idol worship? Both try to objectify a trait that is admired. Just wondering.

Shahryar Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply

@Hairaan: You are very far off from reality! Thats all I can say!!!

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A J Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Who doesn’t know that this man was involved in keeping illegal weapons in mosque, that he fought battles with the armed forces of Pakistan right in the capital city, that he killed soldiers in the battle and that he threatened and launched a series of suicide attacks in various parts of the country as act of vengeance. We appreciate the threat to the judges from the terrorists. In the interest of Justice, Judges and society at large, military courts should be established to handle the terrorists His place is behind the bars and not in the public.

Farz | 13 years ago | Reply I feel disgusted by this. The court is blind and biased. Lack of evidence? seriously? are they joking? there is ample evidence against this man; even tv videos would suffice as evidence but they let him go free. I have lost all faith in Pakistan. Shame.

Hairaan | 13 years ago | Reply

@Khan: Do not get panicked sir. The man who orchestrated all that show had: 1) Attempted to hijack the plane he was travelling in from Colombo to Karachi. 2) Broke the constitution by imposing Martial Law. 3) Illegally and unconstitutionally suspended the CJ after threatening him in the GHQ. 4) Unlawfully imposed Emergency rule.

Have you been able to prosecute him on these charges? No. So please catch the bigger criminals in the first place.

bangash | 13 years ago | Reply this is really insane, the guy lead a rebellion in the middle of Islamabad, openly threatened the public and fought security forces resulting in deaths. How can this fellow be "innocent" ?

Khan | 13 years ago | Reply

So why are our Parliamentarians hibernating? What is their purpose if they can't change law of the land to protect innocent civilians from these barbarians. They must sit together and remove these flaws from PPC where a person was caught on camera on crime scene but can easily get away with it .. Why can't those footage be accepted as proof why can't LEA be accepted as witnesses as it all happened at the time of curfew. This guy was running Lal Masjid a place of worship but (1) He gave shelter to criminals inside it who were involved in kidnapping of civilians and (2) there were weapons in a place of worship so all responsibility is on his shoulders were they licensed weapons and were they issued to that address? (3) Those people he gave shelter to were involved in anarchy, sabotaging peace of the city and taking part in activities against the state as he gave them shelter thus another charge against him (4) These people were involved in firing at LEAs which is a crime too (5) due to that many LEAs died thus a charge of murder and attempted murder (6) He was caught running from that place when an operation was going on He needs to prove that he is innocent not vice versa. (7) There was a curfew imposed at that time and he was caught on the streets thus not respecting curfew is a crime too. I think our judges need more education to know the difference between listening to a well known criminal and understanding the circumstances.

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