Sarfaraz Shah Case: ATC awards death sentence to shooter

KARACHI:

                   The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) announced its verdict in the Sarfaraz Shah killing case Friday, Geo News reported. According to the verdict, Rangers official Shahid Zafar who shot Sarafaraz Shah was awarded the death sentence while the remaining six accused were sentenced to life in prison.

Speaking to the media after the courts verdict, the brother of Sarfaraz Shah said he was satisfied with the decision of the court and thanked the Chief Justice of Pakistan for taking notice of this case. Sarfaraz Shah’s father while speaking to Geo News, said the decision was on merit and it should be upheld by the superior courts and implemented. “God listened to our prayers, we spent the last two months crying,” he added. His mother said she was happy with the decision but complete justice would be served when the death sentence would be carried out.

Sarfaraz Shah was killed in cold blood by the Rangers personnel on June 8 after he was handed over to them by the private contractor, Afsar Khan, accusing him of committing theft and looting.

However, TV footage of the killing showed that the Rangers personnel shot the unarmed Shah twice and after injuring him seriously they watched him bleed to death instead of shifting him to hospital for medical treatment. The defendants, however, denied the prosecution charges.

The Rangers personnel and the private contractor were arrested under the anti-terrorism law as well as murder charges under the Pakistan Penal Code after the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the brutal murder.

The case was registered against the accused by the Boat Basin police under sections 302, 34, and 36 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The police charge-sheeted the Rangers personnel and the private contractor for deliberately murdering Shah, submitting that the accused first caused injuries to the young man with their common intention and later denied him medical treatment. Shah succumbed to his injuries due to excessive bleeding and lack of medical care, the police charged.

The prosecution had named 46 witnesses, including eyewitnesses, in the charge sheet in addition to a list of 14 articles, including the crime weapon, to prove the guilt of the accused.

The trial had to be concluded within 30 days as per the directives of the Supreme Court, which had ordered that the trial be conducted on a day-to-day basis and completed within a month.

However, owing to the lawyers’ boycott of court proceedings against the recent target killings of lawyers the hearing of the case was affected and concluded on August 9.

Manika raps Punjab govt

PAKPATTAN:-

                           Former Federal Minister Ghulam Muhammad Manika said that the Punjab government had failed to appropriately run the affair of the province.

He said that prices of daily use items were increasing and the Punjab government was not able to control them. He said that fertilisers’ prices were also out of reach of farmers and fake pesticides were openly selling in the market but nobody making efforts to control it. He advised the PML-N to quit from the Punjab government and sit on the opposition benches.

Talking to this scribe at his residence, Manika praised the role of TheNation Managing Director Majid Nizami and said that he was a true Pakistani who was working for the sack of the country. He said that Nazria-i-Pakistan Trust under his leadership was leading the nation

Zardari staying execution of 6,000 inmates for three years

LAHORE:-

                    More than 6,000 condemned prisoners are not being executed only for the reason that President Asif Ali Zardari has been granting stay for the last three years, sources in the prisons department confided to TheNation on Wednesday.

They said 33 condemned prisoners were hanged in 2008 after which the president granted stay in their execution after every three months. Last stay orders were issued on July 24 with reference no-F-No-8-11-2008 (PTN) part wherein the interior ministry through the Punjab home secretary said the president was pleased to grant stay in execution of the condemned prisoners up to September 30, 2011. As per jail population statistics there are 6,063 condemned prisoners in all the 32 jails of Punjab with 23 women prisoners also. Most of the condemned prisoners are involved in murder cases while some of them are involved in narcotics (9C), anti-state and terror activities (7-ATA). The stay order was not implemented in cases wherein the prisoners were involved in cases of anti-state activities and 7-ATA.

A senior jail officer seeking anonymity said 537 condemned prisoners were kept in central jail Sahiwal, 502 in central jail Gujranwala while the Faisalabad central jail stood on number three with 485 condemned inmates. Sources in the prisons department claimed the jails of the province were already overcrowded since more than 55,000 prisoners had been locked there against the capacity of more than 21,000 inmates.

The above-said situation has left no option for the jail authorities but to accommodate five to six prisoners in a death cell which is meant for the accommodation of single inmate.

As per details, there are 461condmned prisoners in central jail Lahore, 274 in district jail Kasur, two in district jail Lahore, 303 in district jail Sheikhupura, 290 in district jail Sialkot, 376 in central jail Rawalpindi, 148 in district jail Attock, 192 in district jail Gujrat, 166 in district jail Jhelum, 130 in district jail MB Din, 259 in central jail Minawali, eight in district jail Faisalabad, 241 in district jail Jhang, 268 in district jail Sargohdha, 119 in district jail Shahpur, 154 in district jail Vehari, 154 in district jail TT Singh, 361 in central jail Multan, 299 in central jail Bahawalpur, 204 in central jail DG Khan, 42 in district jail Multan, 84 in district jail RY Khan and four condemned prisoners are at present in women jail Multan. It is also noteworthy that 58 condemned prisoners out of 6,063 are enjoying B class facilities in different jails of Punjab.

A jail officer seeking anonymity demanded of the Supreme Court to take sou moto of the situation. The only reason behind granting stay in the condemned prisoners’ execution could be that the president wanted to send a message to international community that there was no death sentence in Pakistan, he added.

Govt’s writ to be ensured in Karachi

KARACHI:-

                      (Agencies) - Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Hussain Wassan asserted on Tuesday that the government’s writ would be ensured in Karachi at every cost, saying the Sindh government could take firm steps to maintain law and order in the business hub city, but its aim was to take all stakeholders along while taking important decisions.

“I can take strict measures to restore peace in Karachi. But my purpose is to take all stakeholders with me because people hailing from different races, sects, languages are living in Karachi,” asserted Wassan while talking to the media.

He said it was the vision of President Asif Ali Zardari to take along all parties for the sake of peace and that it was in the interest of all inhabitants of Sindh. Wassan, while admitting that “Karachi is a den of illegal weapons”, contended that some miscreants had been creating trouble in the city since 1985. “Karachi has to be cleansed of illegal weapons.”

The minister told reporters that law enforcement agencies had rounded up over 100 suspects during a search operation in various neighbourhoods in Karachi, adding that arms and ammunition had also been retrieved from the miscreants apprehended from Gulistan-e-Johar. He claimed that the government was trying for effective implementation of the writ of law and elimination of criminal and unscrupulous elements. “It is due to this approach that action has been initiated, since Monday evening, against those creating law and order situation.”

He said that the search operation would continue and investigations were underway to identify the real culprits behind the recent mayhem.

The minister said that Karachi was the hub of business, therefore, peace in the mega city was vital for improving image of Pakistan in the world. The government, he maintained, supported commissionerate system in the province but as the people were not satisfied with the “black law” of dictator Pervez Musharraf, it should be changed.

In reply to a question, Wassan said the government would never allow germination of any sense of insecurity among the people of Sindh. The ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had rendered great sacrifices for the cause of Sindh, he averred while saying, “PPP’s share of sacrifice for Sindh is much more than any other political party.”

Meanwhile, US Consul General William J Martin, during a meeting with Manzoor Wassan at his (Wassan’s) residence on Tuesday, said that the United States would provide updated gadgets to the Sindh government for maintenance of peace in the province, particularly in Karachi.

The US diplomat said that cooperation and coordination in other sectors would also be offered to the provincial government.

Briefing the media on his meeting with the US consul general, Wassan said the US official noted that peace was crucial for the business hub of Pakistan.

Wassan told Martin that peace had to be restored in Karachi to dispel the negative impression created on foreign investors and international community in general about the city.

The Sindh home minister asserted that there were drug mafia, land mafia and other criminal elements who were responsible for law and order situation in the province

PSO records Rs 14.7b earnings after tax

ISLAMABAD:-

                           Pakistan State Oil (PSO) posted record results for the financial year 2011 and announced an after tax earnings of Rs14.7 billion as compared to earnings after tax of Rs9.05 billion during the previous financial year. These results were declared after PSO’s Board of Management (BoM) convened on Tuesday at PSO House to review the company’s performance over the fiscal year 2010-11.Despite financial challenges posed by the ever increasing circular debt and the economic slow down, PSO maintained its position as the market leader with a market share of 78.2 per cent and 54.4 per cent in the Black Oil and White Oil segments respectively, thereby contributing to an overall market share of 65.6 per cent. PSO sold 12.6 million tons of POL products in FY11 with net sales revenue growing to Rs975 billion in comparisons to Rs877 billion in the previous year. The BoM declared a final cash dividend of Rs 2 per share in addition to the already paid interim dividends at Rs8 per share. Earnings per share also registered an improvement to Rs. 86.17 per share from Rs52.76 per share last year.While expressing their confidence in the strategic vision and managerial skills of the PSO management, the Board nevertheless expressed serious concern on the spiralling receivables which stood at Rs138.2 billion as of August 9, 2011. They observed that the financial costs associated with servicing this debt coupled with consistent delays in payment from the power sector continued to hurt the overall profitability of the company. The BoM also directed that efforts be made to reduce the impact of the burgeoning financial costs through constant pursuit for recovery of receivables from the power sector entities as well as from the Government of Pakistan.

Govt may opt for review petition

ISLAMABAD:-

                          Two days after the announcement of apex court’s judgment regarding reinstatement of Zafar Ahmad Qureshi, Additional Director General Federal Investigation Agency, to carry out investigation of the cases in NICL scam forthwith and complete the inquiry expeditiously the Interior Ministry seemed perturbed by the verdict, has started making efforts to delay the implementation. Sources told TheNation that Interior Secretary Khawaja Saeed Akbar on Wednesday held a meeting with Additional Attorney General K K Agha in his office at the Supreme Court building.

Though agenda of the meeting could not be ascertained, yet a senior advocate of the Supreme Court stated that might be the government was considering to file a review petition on the judgment instead of implementing it in letter and spirit, as directed. When this scribe contacted the Additional Attorney General on his mobile phone for the confirmation of the news, he just said: “I don’t want to comment on it,” and disconnected the call. The Supreme Court on Monday had quashed the federal government’s order of July 4, 2011, suspending Zafar Qureshi from service.

DG FIA Tehseen Anwar Shah, ADG FIA Zafar Qureshi and other government authorities have been directed to ensure that public money, sent abroad, is brought back. The DG FIA and other relevant authorities were ordered not to create hindrance in the investigation being conducted by Zafar Qureshi under the directives of this court.

In the prevailing political scenario, the Pakistan People’s Party government does not want investigation in the NICL multi-billion scam in which PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi’s son Moonis Elahi and other big names including the PPP’s own minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim have come up being carried out by Zafar Qureshi.

The political analysts say that the PML-Q has joined the government so that the investigation against Moonis Elahi is halted. Zafar Qureshi has collected incriminating evidence against Mohsin Warraich, Habibullah Warraich, Moonis Elahi and Raja Muhammad Ali. He has also succeeded in obtaining information from Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), UK, about the bank account of Moonis Elahi with EFG Private Bank Ltd. worth £1,138,792.53, in the name of a company owned by Moonis and another account in Barclays Bank in the name of Beenish Khan, wife of Mohsin Habib Warraich, worth £ 102,307.63 (transferred from the account in EFG Private Bank Ltd). The Supreme Court in the judgment authored by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has ordered that in pursuance of its order on 13.7.2011 no action shall be taken against Zafar Qureshi without prior approval of this court. The FIA investigation team, already been assisting him, would join him as team-mates. The Court vide order dated 1.7.2011 suspended the operation of notification dated 18.4.2011, whereby services of Zafar were withdrawn as additional DG FIA

Haqqani accuses US of acting with ‘gun blazing’

Haqqani accuses:-

                            Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington has accused the US of acting in a trigger-happy manner, alienating ordinary Pakistanis by the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

“When the Americans come into Pakistan in a military fashion, unilaterally with guns blazing, essentially they are creating fear amongst the populous, which instead of looking upon them as friends starts being suspicious,” Husain Haqqani said in an interview with Washington’s WTOP radio. The Navy Seal raid in May has caused intense anger in Pakistan, where the military and civilian leadership were given no advance warning for fear the plans would be leaked. Relations were already at a low after the US asked that a covert CIA agent arrested in January after shooting dead two Pakistani men in Lahore be released and given diplomatic immunity. A third victim was killed by a four-wheel drive vehicle sent to rescue Raymond Davis, the spy.

Since then American diplomats have complained they face harassment in Pakistan and delays in obtaining visas.

Haqqani said the two episodes had escalated levels of distrust but that the two had to try to rebuild relations. “There are enough suspicions about the US in Pakistan already,” he said.

“There is a lot of negativity, which the US needs to fight to change public opinion and win over hearts and minds, but in a circumstance like that, to do something like this, results in more negativity.”