13 PWs in Pearl case dropped
HYDERABAD- In an unexpected move, the prosecution on Tuesday dropped 13 witnesses in kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Denial Pearl case. The prosecution will now produce five witnesses to depose before the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Hyderabad.
On Tuesday, when the hearing of the case resumed, the prosecution produced two more witnesses, Assistant-Director Anti-Car-Lifting Cell (ACLC) Mohammed Ali — who forwarded computer to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and a private person, Zaheer — who led to the arrest of co-accused Fahad Naseem and Salman Saqib.
Sindh Advocate-General Raja Qureshi told newsmen that the prosecution had produced as many as 20 witnesses and during the course of proceedings, they had decided to drop 13 witnesses. “Therefore, out of 38 witnesses the prosecution is now left with only five witnesses to close its side,” he said.
Those dropped witnesses included taxi driver Faisal Afridi, Head Constable Ashiq Ali, Syed Ali Shah Jilani of Islamabad, Musheer Nazar Hussain, Assistant Sb-Inspector Noor Muhammad, Head Constable Ali Nawaz, Superintendent of Police Agha Tajamul, Deputy Superintendent of Police Malik Asghar Khan Musheer, Haroon Sheikh and Abdul Majeed and Akhtar Waqar Azeem, Manzoor Qureshi, and Hameed Qureshi of the PTV, while Judge of ATC III Karachi Arshad Noor Khan, RSO US Consulate Ronald Bannet, investigation officers Hamidullah and Rao Aslam and the wife of slain Daniel Pearl, Mariane Peal will record their statements.
Qureshi said on Tuesday two witnesses, Muhammad and Zaheer, were produced before the court. Muhammad Ali was cross-examined and told the court that he had sent the laptop and scanner to the US consulate, the chief prosecutor said, adding that Zaheer, who was the Musheer (adviser) in the arrest of co-accused Fahad Naseem and Salman Saqib, was also cross-examined.
On Wednesday, he said, Judge Arshad Noor Khan will record his statement with the permission the Sindh High Court, while a US official Jonh Bannet would also appear in court. About the formation of commission to record the statement of the wife of deceased, he said Barrister Jameel, counsel for Marianne Pearl pledged that he would apprise the court about her present status.
Defence lawyer Rai Bashir told newsmen that the prosecution had dropped 13 witnesses because they wanted to close the case as early as possible, adding the these witnesses were unnecessary. He, however, cited a judgment delivered by Raja Qureshi, when he was a judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC), in which he had ruled that ‘justice hurried is justice buried’.
He said that the second witnesses, Zaheer, who told the court that he joined the investigation by chance and added that he (Zaheer) met with Hamidullah at Chorangi at Joharabad Town and later he was associated the legal proceedings.
He said that firstly they traced Sheikh Naeem, who was apprehended and than he led to Block No 1 of Joharabad Town where Fahad Naseem was arrested, who led to the arrest of Salman Saqib.
He said during cross-examination it was established that the place from where Fahad Naseem was arrested neither belonged to the accused nor was he a resident of that block. The hearing will continue on Wednesday.
Source: The News
Date:5/22/2002
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