LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday dismissed appeals of five men convicted for attacking participants in a vigil held on 5th death anniversary of Punjab’s slain governor Salman Taseer last year at Liberty Chowk.

An anti-terrorism court had awarded 16-year jail term under different sections of law to each convict -- Adeel, Furqan, Kashif, Iftikhar and Wazir Ali.

Counsel for the convicts argued that the trial court handed down the impugned punishment relying on hearsay as the prosecution had no cogent evidence against them.

He asked the bench to set aside the conviction and acquit the convicts.

A deputy prosecutor opposed the defence arguments and stated that all prosecution witnesses testified during the trial that they had identified the convicts.

He said the trial court also relied on video evidence produced by the prosecution. The prosecutor said the convicts could be clearly identified in the footage of the incident.

After hearing the arguments, the bench headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan dismissed the appeals and upheld the punishment.

Published in Dawn October 5th, 2016