KARACHI, June 30: An anti-terrorism court sentenced on Monday three workers of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen to death on each of three counts for killing 11 French naval engineers and two others in a suicide car bomb attack in May last year.

Judge Feroze Mahmood Bhatti of the Anti-Terrorism Court No. 2, who conducted the trial inside the Central Prison, sentenced Mohammed Asif Zaheer, Rizwanullah and Sohail Ahmed, who was tried in absentia, to death on each count of murder under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Capital punishment was awarded to the three accused under Section 3 of the Explosive Substance Act and life sentence under Section 4 of the same act.

The three were also condemned to death under Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act for spreading terror.

Defence counsel said they would go in appeal against the conviction.

The French engineers, who were helping Pakistan build its Agosta 90-B submarine, were killed when an explosives-laden vehicle was rammed into their bus outside the Sheraton Hotel.

The Pakistan Navy bus carrying the French engineers was about to move on the Club Road in the morning, when the incident took place.

The Frenchmen killed in the attack were: De Lecar Bicaiteir, J.M Cheyasutt, Claude Trouet, B Dupond, Leclerc J Y, Bled Cedrick, Pascal de Counte, J Pierre Delavie, Laurnet Jaques, Grous Pastal and Donnard Jhisrry. Two local bystanders, Hashim Abbas and Mewa Begum, were also killed in the attack, which left many others injured.

The injured included Leveziel Laurent, Weegall Jean Marc, Madec Laig, Zante Jean Paul, Waupenie Jean Raymond, Waurent Jacques, Donnart Theirry, Jean Pierre, Etasse Claude, Laurent Jaques, Michel Vinduard, Sanson Gilles, Labat Frederic, Kamran Fazil (official of PN Qasim), Haji Mohammad Nazeer (employee of foreign consulate), Iqbal Shah (driver of Sheraton), Abdul Aziz, Haji Nadeem, Ali Haider Shah, Lal Sabir, Abdus Sattar and Zaid.

The judge sentenced the three accused to suffer life imprisonment and to pay Rs300,000 each as fine under Section 7 (c) of the ATC or undergo an additional five-year term.

The three defendants were also sentenced to a 14-year term under Section 7(d) of the ATC. The judge also fined them Rs100,000 or, in case of default, they will have to undergo an additional one-year term.

The judge sentenced the accused to a 10-year term for injuring the people under sections 324, 120-B, 109 and 34 of the PPC. A fine of Rs300,000 each was also imposed on the convicts, who would undergo an additional five-year term in case of default on payment.

They were also sentenced to a seven-year term and one-year term under sub-sections F and L of the Section 337 of the PPC.

The judge, however, acquitted an absconding accused, Adnan Qamar, as no evidence was brought on record against him.

The judge had earlier on Feb 24 declared Mohammed Sohail alias Akram, Adnan Qamar alias Noni alias Osama, Abdul Samad, Basit and Mustafa as absconders. However, only Sohail and Adnan were tried in absentia and the other absconding accused could not be tried for lack of documentation.

Chief public prosecutor Maula Bux Bhatti, assisted by special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum, examined all 41 prosecution witnesses in the case.

M.R. Syed, one of the defence counsel, said he would file an appeal against the judgment in the Sindh High Court within seven days. He said there was no evidence in the case and the prosecution’s story was full of contradictions.

Family members of the accused were present at the Central Prison, though they were not allowed inside the courtroom. They rejected the verdict and said that their relatives were falsely implicated in the case.

In Paris, a French foreign ministry spokesman said he had no reaction for the moment on the Karachi verdict and France would await precise information before making a comment, adds Dawn Correspondent.