Wali Khan Babar’s trial: Hearing moved to Nov 28 as judge on leave

Court prosecutor still unhappy with security arrangements during trial.

KARACHI: Proceedings in the murder trial of Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar were rescheduled to November 28 because the Anti-Terrorism Court-III judge was on leave.

The trial is being held inside the central jail for security reasons.

The last hearing was on November 13, when the complainant’s lawyer backed out of the case and did not appear in court.

Two days before the November 13 hearing, the last remaining eyewitness of the murder, Haider Ali, was shot dead in Karachi. The fatal attack came despite orders from the Sindh High Court to provide security to lawyers, the judge, court staff and witnesses involved in the case.

Though there is a presence of police officers, the court’s prosecutor Abdul Maroof told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that the arrangements were still unsatisfactory.

The Sindh High Court has also ordered the Anti-Terrorism Court-III on October 19 to wrap up the proceedings within 45 days.

The suspects - Mohammad Shahrukh alias Mani, Faisal alias Nafsiyati, Mohammad Shakeel, Naveed Shah alias Polka and Syed Mohammad Ali Rizvi - have been charged with murder and common intent under the Pakistan Penal Code and under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

While one suspect was killed in an alleged encounter with the Darakshan police in March, five other men have been declared fugitives. Wali Khan Babar was shot dead in Karachi on January 13, 2011.

Reporters Without Borders call for CM to resign

Reporters Without Borders has called for Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah’s resignation in the wake of the murder of the last surviving eyewitness in the case.

In a statement issued on Monday, Reporters Without Borders said that Babar’s “tragic murder could now go unpunished.”

“The Sindh provincial government is directly responsible for protecting witnesses and, last year, the Sindh High Court said that security personnel should be assigned to protect the witnesses and the lawyers handling the case. But for nearly two years, the provincial government did nothing to protect the six witnesses who had agreed to describe what they saw on the day of the murder, and we therefore call for Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah’s immediate resignation,” the statement read.

“We also call for a renewed effort to shed light on Babar’s death and render justice in this case. The fact that the witnesses were eliminated while the main suspects were in preventive detention suggests that those behind Babar’s murder are still at large. Everything must be done to ensure that this street ‘justice’ by force of arms is brought to an end.”

A blog post late last week on the Committee to Protect Journalists website quoted Azhar Abbas, the managing director at Geo TV, saying that “(Haider) Ali was moved to a different location within Karachi - a dangerous city as is. That simply is not enough. He was provided no security personnel.”

The blog post also noted that “Babar’s case presents Pakistani authorities with an opportunity to improve their terrible record of impunity. But do they have any real desire to do so?”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2012.