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Trial Of Suspects In Pearl Murder Case Adjourned After FBI Gives Evidence
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Raja Qureshi, chief prosecutor, speaks to
reporters at the central jail in Hyderabad |
HYDERABAD, Pakistan, May 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The trial of four men accused of the kidnapping and murder of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl was adjourned Saturday after three witnesses, including an FBI agent, gave evidence, court officials said.
The trial will resume on Monday, said chief prosecutor Raja Qureshi.
He said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, computer specialist Ronald Joseph, gave evidence about e-mails, which included photographs, claiming responsibility for Pearl's kidnapping on January 23 in the southern port city of Karachi.
One of the other witnesses, a hotel receptionist, Aamir Raza Qureshi, told the court that Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, had met prime suspect Sheikh Omar at the Akbar Hotel in Rawalpindi, the prosecutor said, without giving further details.
The third witness was a magistrate who was involved in pre-trial investigations, Irum Jehangir, who gave an account of Omar's "sensationalist" statement at an initial hearing, Qureshi said.
Omar reportedly told a preliminary hearing in February that he had abducted Pearl and that as far as he knew the reporter was dead.
Defense lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar said the defense had asked for some time to prepare their cross-examination of the witnesses and would question the magistrate on Monday and the FBI agent on May 16.
Another defense lawyer, Rai Bashir, said the FBI agent produced a laptop in court "and we have serious objections over whom it belongs to and where it comes from."
He said experts would study the findings of FBI agents before cross-examination.
The trial of British-born Islamic militant Omar and three of his co-accused is being held at Hyderabad prison, 100 miles north of Karachi, for security reasons and is closed to the media.
The venue of the trial was moved from a Karachi prison after prosecutors claimed the “courtroom and lawyers could come under attack by terrorists”.
The accused face charges of murder, kidnapping and terrorist activities. If convicted they could be executed.
All four deny the charges. Seven other suspects have been charged but remain at large.
Witnesses have already told the court that Pearl was seen getting into a car with Omar on the day he disappeared.
The kidnappers demanded the United States release Pakistani prisoners caught while fighting with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, but Washington refused to negotiate.
A video of Pearl's murder, in which he was beheaded while being filmed, was sent to the U.S. consulate in Karachi in February, but his body has never been found.
The trial officially began a month ago but has only sat for about four full sessions. The judge has been changed twice and the venue once.
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