Lawyer hopeful action in Imran Farooq case will go on till all punished

LONDON: Pakistan’s Counsel in the UK Toby Cadman has welcomed the convictions of Mohsin Ali Syed, Kashif Khan Kamran and Khalid Shamim for killing Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s senior leader Dr Imran Farooq.

Dr Imran Farooq, 50, was repeatedly stabbed and bludgeoned with a brick in Edgware outside his home ten years ago as he returned home from work on Sept 16, 2010. Islamabad’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) found Mohsin Ali Syed, Kashif Khan Kamran, Khalid Shamim and Moazzam Ali Khan guilty of conspiring and killing Dr Imran Farooq.

Speaking to The News and Geo, Toby Cadman said that the ATC judgment is very strong and it has declared three British nationals as absconders in the murder case in Pakistan. The court judgment has said that Altaf Hussain, Muhammad Anwar and Iftikhar Hussain were involved in planning the murder of Dr Imran Farooq.

Toby Cadman said that the judge has stated in clear terms that the three individuals who were not in court during the trial should be brought before the court.

He said, “There will be consideration of request from Pakistan for extradition and if extradition is not possible then Pakistan will request for trial in this country for the alleged role three of them have played in this country. There has to be consideration of extradition for what the court has held to be their role in the murder that in itself is significant. There are a number of different options available. There are other individuals, who have played the leading role in ordering the murder of Dr Imran Farooq. They have not been put on trial yet.”

Toby Cadman said the judge has given a strong judgment carefully considering the evidence, primarily the one provided by the UK authorities. “The development is significant. The accused have received the harshest penalties that they could which is life imprisonment.”

Toby Cadman said that they have not been given death sentences because the UK and Pakistan agreed through Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to abolish the death sentence in this case and to ensure that the trial is fair. The fact that the UK investigators, forensic experts and witnesses appeared before the court and gave their evidence is a proof of the fairness of trial and British authorities have confirmed the trial was fair.

The lawyer said the outcome of UK-Pakistan cooperation is historic and huge. “It’s incredible that there has been this level of cooperation between Metropolitan Police and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). I hope there will be greater cooperation between the two countries in eradication of all kinds of crimes.” He says that if Pakistan decides to request extradition of the three accused from the UK, it will be hard for them to argue that they will not receive a fair trial since authorities in this country have accepted that the trial was fair in Dr Imran Farooq’s case as three received punishments after the trial while the fourth accused was sentenced in absentia.

Answering a question, Toby Cadman said that the evidence presented in this trial before the ATC was in relation to three individuals only and it was argued that other individuals had played a leading role.

“It’s not uncommon for some of the evidence not to be presented for those individuals who were not in the court. There may be evidence that may not have been presented and it will be scrutinised going forward. If there is sufficient evidence, certainly authorities on both sides will have to look very carefully.

Toby Cadman has attended the trial in Islamabad.