Skip to main content

Pakistani Court Delays Mumbai Attack Case for Month





By VOA News
25 July 2009

Sardar Tariq Masood (r), defense lawyer of one of five suspects in Mumbai terror attacks, talks with media at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, 25 Jul 2009
Sardar Tariq Masood (r), defense lawyer of one of five suspects in Mumbai terror attacks, talks with media at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, 25 Jul 2009
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has adjourned for more than a month a case against five men accused of being involved in November's terror attacks in India's commercial city of Mumbai.

During a closed briefing Saturday, a judge heard brief statements from both sides before delaying the case until August 29. The five suspects appeared at a high-security facility, Adiala Jail, in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just outside of Islamabad.

A defense attorney, Shahbaz Rajput, told reporters the suspects have not yet been formally charged.







Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained since last year's deadly siege that killed 166 people in Mumbai. India blames the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and says Pakistan has not done enough to bring those responsible to justice.

On Saturday, court officials in Rawalpindi said defense attorneys asked for the prosecution to turn over evidence. The government argued for a closed trial because of the sensitivity of the case.

The suspects in court Saturday included Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba who is accused of masterminding the attack.

Earlier this week, a judge in India ordered the trial for the only surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks to go forward, even though the defendant pleaded guilty. The prosecution says it believes the defendant, Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, pleaded guilty in order to get a more lenient sentence.

Kasab faces 86 charges and faces the death penalty if convicted.


Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

US Stocks Surge to Highest Level of Year on Housing News

By Mil Arcega Washington 24 July 2009 The benchmark Dow Jones industrial average of the top US companies broke the 9,000 point mark Thursday on strong earnings reports and an improving housing picture. Wall Street extended its recent gains Thursday after a new housing report showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose at an annual pace of 3.6 percent in June. It was the third straight month of rising home sales. "The markets are reacting to the news today in the context of other things they've been seeing and reading in recent weeks, and that's that the economy does appear to have hit a bottom," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. Investors reacted positively to earnings reports from Ford, Ebay, AT&T and higher sales of Apple's new iPhone. Resler says the positive earnings give a much needed confidence boost for the struggling U.S. economy. "I think...
Post a Comment
Read more

ASEAN pushes for resumption of N. Korea nuke talks

ASEAN and friends: Foreign Ministers from left, Vietnam's Pham Gia Khiem, South Korea's Kim Sung-hwan, Japan's Takeaki Matsumoto, Indonesia's Marty Natalegawa, and China's Yang Jiechi, hold hands during a group photo at the opening session of ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday. (AP/Dita Alangkara) Associated Press, Nusa Dua | Thu, 07/21/2011 2:19 PM Foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations are calling for a speedy resumption of talks aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. China, the US, Japan, South Korea and Russia had been negotiating since 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to dismantle the program in exchange for aid and other concessions. The North pulled out of the talks about two years ago after being censured for launching a long-range rocket. It has indicated a willingness in recent months to return to the table. The 10-member Association of Southeast As...
Post a Comment
Read more