Lakhvi exemption case: FIA submits arguments

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Investigation Agency submitted partial arguments before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday over an application filed by Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, seeking exemption from personal appearance before the court owing to security concerns.

Lakhvi’s counsel, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, told The Express Tribune that the FIA prosecutor presented partial arguments before the ATC. Details of the arguments cannot be shared as the proceedings were conducted in an in-camera session, said Abbasi.

During the previous hearing, ATC judge Sohail Ikram had issued notice to the FIA for presenting their arguments on the exemption plea.

The special prosecutor, Chaudhry Azhar, could not be reached despite several attempts.

In the application, Abbasi has maintained that his client was being threatened and therefore he should be exempted from personal appearance in the court.

Lakhvi is said to be an operational commander of banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and an alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008, in which over a 160 people were killed. An ATC had granted post-arrest bail to Lakhvi against surety bonds worth Rs1 million on December 18, 2014.

The case will be taken up on May 13.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2015.