ATC summons Mark Siegel, four others in Benazir murder case
FIA special prosecutor says witnesses did not receive summons earlier
A file photo of late Benazir Bhutto. PHOTO: AFP
RAWALPINDI:
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has reissued notices to five witnesses, including American author Mark Siegel, in the assassination case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
On Monday, when the ATC judge Chaudhry Abdul Qayyum took up the high-profile case at the heavily guarded Adiala Jail, the special prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Chaudhry Muhammad Azhar Ali requested the court to issue fresh summons to five witnesses.
He said the court had issued notices to these witnesses after the previous orders could not be executed because the witnesses did not receive the summons.
Later, the judge summoned the five witnesses including Mark Siegel, a Bilawal House official Abdul Razzaq Mirani, her driver Javed, and two intelligence agency officials and directed the prosecution to present them at the next hearing on April 22, 2015.
Talking to The Express Tribune, the FIA prosecutor said Benazir’s driver Javed was present at Liaquat Bagh at the time of the fatal gun and bomb attack on December 27, 2007 while Abdul Razzaq Mirani had provided investigators with her BlackBerry phones.
On a query, he said Siegel might not appear in person but was expected to give his statement via video link.
The court proceeding was also attended by former City Police Officer Saud Aziz and former SP Rawal division Khurram Shehzad, as well as the five accused arrested in the murder case.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2015.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has reissued notices to five witnesses, including American author Mark Siegel, in the assassination case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
On Monday, when the ATC judge Chaudhry Abdul Qayyum took up the high-profile case at the heavily guarded Adiala Jail, the special prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Chaudhry Muhammad Azhar Ali requested the court to issue fresh summons to five witnesses.
He said the court had issued notices to these witnesses after the previous orders could not be executed because the witnesses did not receive the summons.
Later, the judge summoned the five witnesses including Mark Siegel, a Bilawal House official Abdul Razzaq Mirani, her driver Javed, and two intelligence agency officials and directed the prosecution to present them at the next hearing on April 22, 2015.
Talking to The Express Tribune, the FIA prosecutor said Benazir’s driver Javed was present at Liaquat Bagh at the time of the fatal gun and bomb attack on December 27, 2007 while Abdul Razzaq Mirani had provided investigators with her BlackBerry phones.
On a query, he said Siegel might not appear in person but was expected to give his statement via video link.
The court proceeding was also attended by former City Police Officer Saud Aziz and former SP Rawal division Khurram Shehzad, as well as the five accused arrested in the murder case.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2015.