KARACHI: A Pakistani court on Wednesday indicted six paramilitary soldiers and a civilian on murder and terrorism charges after an unarmed man was shot dead on camera in a public park, lawyers said.
If convicted, the seven accused could be sentenced to death.
Members of Pakistan's Rangers paramilitary force were caught on film killing Sarfaraz Shah, 22, after a civilian dragged him over to the troops, accusing him of robbery in Karachi on June 8.
The daylight murder was filmed by a cameraman and broadcast round the clock on television, shocking the country with the apparent brutality of trained officers.
“The court has formally framed charges of murder and terrorism against all the accused,” public prosecutor Mohammad Khan Buriro told reporters.
The accused pleaded not guilty and will contest the charges after appearing before judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso on Wednesday, lawyers said.
Buriro said the trial would begin on Thursday and that a total of 46 witnesses would be called to the stand.
“They are innocent and will contest the charges,” said M R Sayed, one of the lawyers for the defence.
“We have asked the court to provide the investigation report compiled by the government joint investigation team,” he added.
The formal indictment had been repeatedly delayed to allow the accused time to hire lawyers.
Facing down a media tirade, the government has already taken the rare step of removing the provincial chiefs of police and Rangers in Karachi.
The widely aired footage of the killing showed a clean-shaven and unarmed Shah, wearing black trousers and a navy shirt, pleading for his life before he was shot twice.
He then begged for help while the soldiers appeared to do nothing but watch him fall slowly and lapse into unconsciousness.
Despite no evidence in the video that Shah had a weapon, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, whose ministry is responsible for the Rangers, claimed last week that the victim had been carrying an unlicensed weapon.
The killings last month by security forces of five unarmed Chechens, one of them a pregnant woman, in the city of Quetta are also under investigation.
Answerable to the interior ministry, more than 10,000 paramilitary troops patrol Karachi and its surroundings to combat routine ethnic, political and extremist violence in the city of 16 million.
Human rights activists condemned Shah's killing and complain that the Rangers, established for combat and border duty, are neither equipped nor trained for civilian areas.
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