KARACHI, April 26: Hearing of the Daniel Pearl kidnapping-cum-murder could not be held for the second consecutive day on Friday as the prosecution side did not appear in the trial court.
Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon of the anti-terrorism court-2, who is holding the trial inside Central Prison, Karachi, fixed April 30 for the next hearing after waiting for the prosecutors till 12-noon.
Defence lawyers, who had sought a one-day adjournment on Thursday due to the countrywide boycott of courts by lawyers, however, appear in the court.
When contacted the Advocate-General Sindh, Raja Qureshi, told Dawn that he was busy in the Sindh High Court in connection with the hearing of his application for transfer of the case from the ATC-2.
Syed Mohsin Imam, assistant to Abdul Waheed Katpar, counsel for accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, told Dawn that an application had been filed on behalf of their client against the prison administration.
He said Omar Shaikh, the alleged mastermind of the US journalist kidnapping, and other accused were being kept in solitary confinement.
In the application, he said, it had been submitted to the court that the accused were not even being allowed to say prayers with others in the prison.
He said it had been prayed that the accused be kept in the prison according to the provisions of the jail manual.
Mr Imam said the judge called a report from the prison authorities.
He said an identical application had also been filed by Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, counsel for Fahad Naseem and Adil Shaikh, on behalf of his clients.
He said Rai Bashir, defence attorney for Salman Saqib, also moved a fresh application for the medical treatment of his client by a doctor of Aga Khan Hospital. The defence counsel submitted that his client was earlier being treated in the hospital under the name of Junaid and his medical file was available at the hospital.
Father of accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, father and brother of accused Salman Saqib and brother of accused Adil Shaikh met their relations at the prison.
Khawaja Naveed moved an application before the ATC-2, stating that his clients, Shaikh Adil and Fahad Naseem, had been kept in a death cell in Karachi Central Prison, and he prayed the court to order their treatment as normal prisoners, PPI adds.
The judge issued notice to the superintendent of Karachi Central Prison to appear in the court on April 30.
SHC: A division bench of the Sindh High Court adjourned on Friday to April 30 the hearing of an application by the advocate-general Sindh praying for transfer of the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case from the anti-terrorism court-2, adds PPI.
The division bench, comprising the Chief Justice, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, and Justice Ghulam Rabbani, adjourning the hearing, told the AG Sindh, Raja Qureshi, to provide a copy of the application to defence lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar, who submitted before the court that he had not received copy of the application.
Mr Qureshi, in his application, had submitted before the High Court on Thursday that the ATC-2, presided over by Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon, had not been able to control “rude and abusive behaviour of the accused in the Daniel Pearl case who throughout the proceedings hurled abuses and threats at the prosecution team, witnesses and others connected with the case.”
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