Among those who faced intimidation is Fida Hussain Ghalvi, a key witness in a murder case in which Ishaq was accused of killing 12 members of a family during a Majlis in 1997. When Ghalvi and three other men had identified Ishaq, he reportedly told them in front of a judge that “dead men can’t talk”. Subsequently, five witnesses and three of their relatives were killed during the trial. And Ishaq was acquitted because of “lack of evidence”. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. A more remarkable case was the bombing of an Iranian culture centre in Multan, in 1997. Eight people were killed. When investigating officer, Ejaz Shafi, persuaded two witnesses to appear in court, his car was sprayed with bullets. Anti-Terrorism Court judge Bashir Ahmed Bhatti convicted Malik Ishaq but the Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2006 because of lack of evidence. In March 2007, the same judge, scheduled to hear another case against Malik Ishaq, was on his way to the court when a remote-controlled bicycle bomb exploded near his car, killing his driver and two policemen. Malik Ishaq was charged with planning the bombing. Two years later, the prosecution’s witnesses suddenly turned hostile. Malik Ishaq was acquitted in April 2009, because of “lack of evidence”. thenews.pk/Todays-News-13-34868-Lashkar-e-Jhangvi-leader-Malik-Ishaq-set-to-be-freed
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 04:54:39 +0000