Pakistan

Imambargah bombing: LHC sets free four death-row convicts

The accused had challenged the death sentence given by ATC

Fawad Ali January 16, 2015

The accused had challenged the death sentence given by ATC. STOCK IMAGE

RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench acquitted on Thursday four accused earlier sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in the 2002 Shah-e-Najaf Imambarga suicide bomb attack.

The condemned death row prisoners were acquitted for want of evidence on their appeal against the earlier judgment. Set the appellants free if not required in any case, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin directed. Police had arrested Mujeebur Rahman, Iqrar Abbasi, Muhammad Sohail, Muhammad Abdullah, Mubarak Hussain Shah Fazle Hammed, Tahir Commando, Hafiz Naseer Ahmad, Habibullah Mujahid in connection with the blast that had killed at least 11 people.

An Anti-Terrorism Court had set Rahman, Abbasi, Sohail Abdullah and Shah free but awarded death sentences to the rest of the suspects on December 9, 2004. The convicts challenged the decision.

The LHC in its judgment set aside the previous decision of an ATC. In the judgment, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin stated that none among the accused who faced trial was assigned any role in respect of actual carnage inside the imambargah. The judgment said prosecution has failed to prove them as conspirators and facilitators.

It said the evidence of prosecution witnesses did not corroborate with each other.

About prosecution witness Muhammad Sharif, who in his statement, claimed to have fully comprehended the designs of the assailants even before the occurrence and rushed to inform the worshippers fails to find any space.

“We failed to understand as to what impelled him to stand there to observe people’s movement and overhear conversation amongst them,” the judgment states. Besides, the witness could not rightly pick up the suspects among the dummies during the identification parade held before the magistrate concerned. In addition, the magistrate who conducted the identification parade has gone abroad.

“On judicial plain, we are appalled by the enormity of carnage and cruelty inflicted upon the innocent worshippers,” the judgment stated. “On overall analysis of prosecution evidence, we find it extremely unsafe to uphold impugned conviction,” it added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2015.