Who to blame?: Court reserves verdict in kidnapping of Chinese men

Case adjourned till February 7.

KARACHI:

An anti-terrorism court reserved its verdict on Wednesday in the kidnapping case of Chinese men in which a request was made to contact foreign authorities to record statements.

This unique case, where all three men involved - the kidnapper, the abductee and the complainant - are Chinese nationals, is pending before the anti-terrorism court-III because the complainant of the case, MA Chaun, returned to his home country.



On Wednesday, the defence counsel, Farooq Ahmed, argued that the ATC has no jurisdiction to entertain an application filed under section 503 (2B) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The court has no power to form a commission or direct the embassy of Pakistan in China to record his statement, he added.

Countering the argument, the deputy district public prosecutor of ATC-III, Abdul Maroof, said that section 19 (14) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, gives powers of a sessions court to the ATC judges and they can entertain any application filed under the CrPC. The prosecutor said that the court can direct the embassy to record statements as the legal attaches have the powers of a first-class magistrate.

At this stage, Ahmed argued that the defence will lose the opportunity to cross examine the complainant if his statement was recorded abroad. Maroof contended that the defence counsel can prepare a questionnaire keeping the content of the FIR in view as the complainant cannot transgress the boundaries of the FIR. According to the police, the suspect, Zhan Hai Feng, was accused of kidnapping the owner of the Zhejiang Ganghang Solar Technology, Yugang Bai. He demanded a ransom of Rs10 million for his safe release.

The prosecution claimed that Feng had faked his and Bai’s kidnapping and pretended that he was a militant when he demanded ransom from Bai’s wife. When he failed to receive the required amount for a few days, Feng returned without the victim. He told Bai’s wife that the kidnappers released him while her husband was still in their detention. The police eventually traced the suspect and recovered Bai. Feng, now in police custody, is facing trial.

Earlier, the court sent a letter to the Chinese consulate asking the complainant come to court but they were informed that the issue was out of their jurisdiction. Following the arguments, the court reserved the verdict and adjourned the case till February 7.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2014.