Pearl video shown to court
HYDERABAD- Advocate General Sindh Raja Qureshi has said the videotape presented by a FBI agent before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Hyderabad on Tuesday exhibited the demand for ransom as well as slaughtering of Daniel Pearl.
He also said that a prosecution witness validated in the court, headed by Judge Syed Ali Ashraf Shah, that he had sold the scanner and the printer to an accused, Salman Saqib, which were used for sending e-mails and photographs of the deceased.
The AG also made an application seeking the examination of Mariane Pearl, wife of the deceased, through constitution of a commission and the court issued notice on the application for May 16.
The court also took up the blasphemy application that was filed by the defence against the prosecution for making derogatory remarks. It was argued in the court and the matter would be decided on Wednesday.
The court would also decide another application filed by the defence in connection with the absence of investigation officer Hamidullah despite instruction by the court for attending the hearing. The court would also hear the arguments of the writing experts on May 16. The prosecution produced two witnesses including FBI agent John Falgan and the owner of a computer store Rajesh Kumar on Tuesday.
When the AG was asked to comment about the reaction of the judge after watching the videotape, he refused to say anything while the defence lawyer said that the judge was smiling. Briefing journalists outside Hyderabad jail, chief prosecutor Raja Qureshi said that the prosecution examined FBI agent John Falgan, who had produced the original videotape, which showed the demand for ransom raised by the accused persons as well as the slaying of Daniel Pearl.
He said that one witness, Rajesh Kumar, owner of a computer store in Karachi, was produced in the court who confirmed through his evidence that he had sold the scanner and a printer to accused Salman Saqib and that the items were used for sending the e-mails and photographs.
He said the prosecution also made an application in the court seeking the examination of Mariane Pearl through a commission and the court directed for the notice to be issued for May 16.
He said that the blasphemy application was filed by the defence with malafide intentions and to intimidate the prosecution. Barrister Zahoorul Haq argued the blasphemy application in the court and the order would be passed on Wednesday, he added.
The AG said that at the time of showing the videotape, the judge, the prosecution team, the defence team and the accused persons were present in the room. To a query, Qureshi said that Rajesh Kumar had not identified the accused instead he submitted the documents and vouchers showing that the scanner and printers were sold to accused Salman.
He said that the defence watched the videotape thrice and it was of three minutes duration. When asked to define the process of examining Mariane Pearl, he said that a commission would be formed which would record her statement in London.
Rai Bashir, defence counsel for co-accused Salman Saqib, Fahad Naseem and Shaikh Muhammed Adil, told journalists that John Falgan produced the videotape, which the FBI agent said that he had obtained through his sources and did not mention that it was delivered at the US Embassy.
He said that it was also mentioned in the police challan submitted under Section 173. The defence counsel claimed that the video was created by using computer graphics and added that he was not impressed with the videotape evidence produced by prosecution in the murder case of the Wall Street Journal reporter. He claimed that the words were incomprehensible while the videotape showed the cutting of the neck of a person who is unconscious. He said that at the beginning of the videotape Daniel Pearl was seen speaking but due to the poor sound quality the words could not be understood.
He claimed that the names of Afghanistan, Kashmir and Palestine appeared in the videotape along with some pictures showing the body of a slain Palestinian child and humiliation of women in Afghanistan. Rai Bashir said that the person whose neck was cut did not even move during the grisly act and it was clear that the video was created by using computer.
Source: The News
Date:5/15/2002
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