Pakistani soldier gets death rap
Source: Agencies |
August 13, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A PAKISTANI anti-terrorism court yesterday sentenced to death a soldier who shot dead an unarmed young man in the southern city of Karachi, an incident that was caught on videotape and broadcast widely on TV, shocking the public.
Five other soldiers and a civilian who were also charged in the case were given life sentences. All were convicted of murder.
Sarfraz Shah, 18, was shot on June 8 after being detained by a group of Pakistani Rangers.
Video of the incident showed a man in civilian clothes wrestling a gun out of Shah's hand and kicking him toward the uniformed security troops. Shah said it was just a toy gun as he pleaded with a Ranger who pointed his rifle at his neck.
At one point, he moved toward one of the Rangers with his arms outstretched, but he was pushed back, then shot twice in the hand and leg. While on the ground, he begged the Rangers to take him to a hospital, but they stood by as he writhed in an expanding pool of blood.
Shah was eventually taken to a local hospital and died shortly thereafter from blood loss.
Shah's killing drew a huge amount of public fury, and the suspects in the case were quickly arrested and put on trial on murder and terrorism charges.
The actual trial process was closed to the media, but yesterday, in a short statement before announcing the sentences, Judge Bashir Khosro said the men's guilt in the murder charge "has been proven." He did not mention any verdict on the terrorism charges.
Five other soldiers and a civilian who were also charged in the case were given life sentences. All were convicted of murder.
Sarfraz Shah, 18, was shot on June 8 after being detained by a group of Pakistani Rangers.
Video of the incident showed a man in civilian clothes wrestling a gun out of Shah's hand and kicking him toward the uniformed security troops. Shah said it was just a toy gun as he pleaded with a Ranger who pointed his rifle at his neck.
At one point, he moved toward one of the Rangers with his arms outstretched, but he was pushed back, then shot twice in the hand and leg. While on the ground, he begged the Rangers to take him to a hospital, but they stood by as he writhed in an expanding pool of blood.
Shah was eventually taken to a local hospital and died shortly thereafter from blood loss.
Shah's killing drew a huge amount of public fury, and the suspects in the case were quickly arrested and put on trial on murder and terrorism charges.
The actual trial process was closed to the media, but yesterday, in a short statement before announcing the sentences, Judge Bashir Khosro said the men's guilt in the murder charge "has been proven." He did not mention any verdict on the terrorism charges.
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