SHC commutes death sentence in US diplomat killing case

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal of a convict for acquittal in the US diplomat killing case but commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment.

An anti-terrorism court had sentenced Anwarul Haq to death on March 5, 2008, after he was found guilty of preparing the plot for the suicide car bombing that killed American diplomat David Foy and three Pakistani citizens on March 2, 2006. The trial court had, however, acquitted co-defendant Osman Ghani of charges.

According to the prosecution, the suicide attacker, who was later identified as Mohammad Tahir, had rammed a car packed with explosives into a vehicle carrying the US diplomat as soon as it left the consulate.

The prosecution charged that the accused along with suicide attacker had parked the vehicle bearing fictitious registration number AGE-750 (the original registration was HD-750) loaded with explosive substance in the parking area of the Naval Central Surgery Hospital, and later they executed their plan by colliding that vehicle with that of the US consulate, resulting in the deaths of Foy and three Pakistanis — Iftikhar, Hasan Shahzad and Rangers constable Zafar — and injuries to 48 others. 

The appellant’s counsel, Mohammad Farooq, contended that the trial court had erred in awarding the death sentence to his client. He said the prosecution had failed to prove its case, submitting that the eyewitnesses of the case were “setup” witnesses and their testimony could not be relied upon under the law. 

The counsel pointed out that the prosecution did not produce any evidence to prove that eyewitnesses Ali Zaman and Sikandar Hayat had been present outside the hospital’s canteen and had seen the defendants.

He contended that security guards of the hospital were also not examined by the prosecution, where the vehicle used in the suicide bombing was parked. He also raised a serious illegality in the identification parade of the defendants and submitted that the identification parade and Haq’s confessional statement were not recorded as per the procedure prescribed by the superior courts.

The court was prayed to set aside the conviction and order Haq’s release forthwith. However, the state counsel opposed the appeal and contended that the prosecution proved its case beyond any shadow of doubt and sufficient evidence was produced before the court to prove the guilt of the appellant. A division bench, headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, dismissed the appeal for his acquittal but commuted his death sentence into life imprisonment.