Jan Khan (3rd L), the legal consultant for a group of Pakistanis jailed in Spain in 2009, speaks as he sits with detainees who were recently released and deported to Pakistan during a press conference in Islamabad on February 27, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
Jan Khan, the legal consultant for the men, said they wanted to clear their names of the terror charges.
Ten Pakistanis and one Indian were jailed for between eight and 14 years in December 2009 for planning a terror attack on the metro system.
Eight of the Pakistanis have served their sentences and seven of them have been deported, while one is a Spanish resident.
The seven appeared at a news conference with Khan in Islamabad.
"There was no proof against them. They were sentenced on the basis of just one witness who was bribed," Khan said.
"There were many Pakistanis who provided witnesses and told the court that they were innocent, but the court sentenced them just on the basis of one witness who was bribed by the secret Spanish services."
He urged the Pakistani government and rights groups to try to have the case reopened.
"Our lawyer misguided us. He advised us not to speak in court and we could not provide our stance properly," said Hafeez Ahmed, a resident of Rawalpindi who was detained in a mosque in Barcelona.
He also claimed to have been tortured while in police custody.
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@Bakhtiyar Ghazi Khan One witness who was bribed and bore false testimony. Proof requires more than just a witness, but documented and irrefutable proof. This isn’t an Indian Kangaroo court in Kashmir, where Muslims are always guilty.
First of all India is not 100% Hindu country, There are 160 million Muslims living in India and there present through out India including in the state Jammu & Kashmir. I think you may know know about these things. More over they are not worshiping different god. (a small 3 million urdu speaking Muslims living in Karachi also)
@Bakhtiyar Ghazi Khan: Ah you mean the Kangaroo courts of Pakistan where the man who helped nabbing the most wanted terrorist in the world , was sentenced in just one day while in India, the case of the terrorist Kasab went for years before his execution. Amnesia as usual for Pakistanis.
@Manoj: Spain used to be a super power once. They killed millions over religion and gold. Have you heard of the Spanish inquisition? Or the fall of the Incan and Aztec empires?
A picture is worth a thousand words........and that was a good picture.
Unbelievable: following that logic would get many innocents convicted in any society of the world.
One witness is never enough proof in any western country, and should not be, specially in such cases. It comes down his/hers words against their words. Whose words are more trustworthy? How does a judge decide that? Before ruining someones life, the evidence against them should be "beyond any reasonable doubt".
One witness who was bribed and bore false testimony. Proof requires more than just a witness, but documented and irrefutable proof. This isn't an Indian Kangaroo court in Kashmir, where Muslims are always guilty.
Says it all - this isn't a Pakistani rape trial - one credible witness is all you need.