KARACHI: Omar Shahid Hamid, son of the slain KESC MD Shahid Hamid, has said that Saulat Mirza’s family had tried to approach him and his mother on many occasions to seek their pardon.

“Saulat Mirza’s family at various points recently and in the past attempted to contact us to gain forgiveness under the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance. This included one attempt which I recall when many years ago they showed up at my mother’s office. There were also attempts made during the MQM government to intimidate us into giving Saulat forgiveness. At one point then home minister Aftab Shaikh called me and threatened me. My mother was removed from her post and not given a job for two years during the MQM government, and various other similar incidents. Even Saulat Mirza’s wife has given statements in this regard saying that several attempts were made but rebuffed by us,” Omar told Dawn on Tuesday.

Know more: Saulat Mirza executed at Balochistan's Machh Jail

About Saulat, through his own admission saying that he was just a hired killer, Omar said: “On the issue of the remaining suspects in this case, I think there is a lot of misconception about the case. Saulat gave the same statement in court, under Section 164 [of the criminal procedure code], back in 1999. Based on that statement, Altaf Hussain and others were challaned in the case as absconders. As they are absconding from Pakistan, they can only be brought to trial when they return to Pakistan and Pakistan has no extradition treaty with the UK. However, the case and evidence against these suspects remains open so there is no question of this case being closed with Saulat Mirza,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2015

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