KARACHI: Karachi’s police have the uphills task of investigating Friday’s rioting so that the men who lead the groups that called for the protests are implicated.
According to the special public prosecutor for Anti-Terrorism Court III, Abdul Maroof, the instructions were given to all investigating officers. The Jackson police, for example, were given till October 8 to question 24 men who were implicated in five cases. Nineteen of them have been accused of murder, attempted murder, rioting and obstructing public servants from working.
An additional five men have been accused of attempted murder, rioting and causing trouble by using fire or explosive substances. Six suspects have also been booked for possessing illegal weapons.
Five suspects - Adnan, Abid Ali, Dil Nawaz, Mohammad Shakeel and Shahrukh - were brought to ATC III on similar charges. The court handed them over to the Civil Lines police for questinong till September 26. They will be presented in the court on September 27.
On Saturday, the same court had remanded 63 suspects to the custody of five police stations - Civil Lines, Preedy, Nabi Bux, Kharadar and Boat Basin - in the South district.
The ATC III also referred the case registered by the Defence police against a group of juveniles, accused of torching a carton of alcoholic drinks, back to the city courts on the ground that it was “not an act of terrorism”.
Those in custody are a mix of juveniles and young men in their 20s. A number of them reportedly belong to the religious and political groups that were protesting on September 21.
What is at stake
By ordering investigating officers to look at who led the protests, the question of abetment arises. Are the religious party leaders responsible for the ensuing riots, since they were leading the protests on Friday? Ask religious party leaders and they will say no.
Leaders of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) have all absolved themselves from the case, claiming that their activists were not involved and that they had “led and dispersed their rallies peacefully”.
Proving abetment may be a complicated process, because a suspect will have to testify that he was directly instigated by whoever led the protest.
The abetment offences have been used in high-profile cases before.
Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was tried under a section of the Pakistan Penal Code that deals with abetment, and was subsequently executed by the government of Pakistan.
Secondly, the inclusion of the protest leaders may be difficult for police officers and lawyers alike. For example, if police officers include the leaders of political and religious parties who called for protests, they may end up facing the wrath of those same groups. In January, after an intense protest by the Shia community, the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police named the banned Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat leader Orangzaib Farooqui in the murder case of Askari Raza.
The Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat protested against Farooqui being implicated and he avoided public appearances until the furore died down.
Similarly, the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police have not registered a First Information Report of last month’s bomb blast outside Safari Park because the complainants have asked for the inclusion of a diplomat’s name in the case, which is against the Vienna Convention. The police have asked a government prosecutor to form a legal opinion on the case, and it is still pending.
There are a number of other factors at play as well. Do the police have enough evidence to prosecute the suspects and will any witnesses come forward? Secondly, there will be accusations of victimisation. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) spokesperson for Sindh, Aslam Ghori, has already alleged that “many of the arrested men are innocent” and “were just picked up for no reason.” As the days go by, these calls will grow louder.
The police are reportedly claiming that many of those arrested at the site of the looting and arson were found with petrol, sticks and weapons.
If found guilty, the suspects could be looking at a two- to three-year jail term for rioting and three to ten years for possession.
Under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, the men can also given the death sentence or imprisoned for life if they are found guilty of murder or attempted murder.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2012.
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this is hopeless.