Mumbai attacks case: Defence lawyers ‘not ready’ to go to India
Security and financial concerns cited as reason.
RAWALPINDI:
An anti-terrorism court hearing the Mumbai attacks case was informed by the accused on Saturday that their lawyers were unwilling to travel to India to record statements of Indian prosecution witnesses before a judicial commission.
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terrorist attacks in India’s financial capital, and six other men who are in custody, submitted a written application to Special Judge ATC-I Shahid Rafique, stating that their lawyers were not ready to go to India.
The judge put off the hearing till December 10 and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to respond to the applications filed by the accused.
Accused Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid, along with Lakhvi, informed the trial court that owing to security and financial concerns, none of their lawyers were ready to represent them before the judicial commission in Mumbai.
The accused further told the court that their lawyers were only willing to defend them in Pakistan, adding that following the murder of Ajmal Kasab’s legal counsel, the availability of another lawyer was doubtful.
Advocate Khawaja Sultan Ahmed, representing Lakhvi, told The Express Tribune that the arrested men had expressed fears that the Indian authorities were demanding capital punishment for them and that they did not expect any justice from the Indian judiciary.
The accused also informed the court that they did not have enough money to hire lawyers to defend them in India.
However, Special Public Prosecutor for the FIA Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told the court that all expenses of lawyers from both sides will be covered by the federal government, and therefore, saying that it was unaffordable was just an excuse.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2011.
An anti-terrorism court hearing the Mumbai attacks case was informed by the accused on Saturday that their lawyers were unwilling to travel to India to record statements of Indian prosecution witnesses before a judicial commission.
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terrorist attacks in India’s financial capital, and six other men who are in custody, submitted a written application to Special Judge ATC-I Shahid Rafique, stating that their lawyers were not ready to go to India.
The judge put off the hearing till December 10 and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to respond to the applications filed by the accused.
Accused Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid, along with Lakhvi, informed the trial court that owing to security and financial concerns, none of their lawyers were ready to represent them before the judicial commission in Mumbai.
The accused further told the court that their lawyers were only willing to defend them in Pakistan, adding that following the murder of Ajmal Kasab’s legal counsel, the availability of another lawyer was doubtful.
Advocate Khawaja Sultan Ahmed, representing Lakhvi, told The Express Tribune that the arrested men had expressed fears that the Indian authorities were demanding capital punishment for them and that they did not expect any justice from the Indian judiciary.
The accused also informed the court that they did not have enough money to hire lawyers to defend them in India.
However, Special Public Prosecutor for the FIA Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told the court that all expenses of lawyers from both sides will be covered by the federal government, and therefore, saying that it was unaffordable was just an excuse.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2011.