suryakiran
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A Pakistani court has sentenced a member of the paramilitary Rangers force to death for the killing of an unarmed man in June, in what was a rare rebuke to the powerful security establishment.
The anti-terrorism court also sentenced five other Rangers and a civilian to life imprisonment. It imposed a fine of 200,000 rupees (£1,420) on the Ranger receiving the death penalty, and 100,000 rupees each on the others.
The killing, which happened in Karachi, was caught on video and broadcast on television, deepening anger against security forces already tarnished by their failure to detect the US commando raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed in May.
The shooting of Sarfaraz Shah, who was unarmed, also triggered criticism of Pakistan's human rights record and its unpopular government, which many say has failed to rein in the police and army.
The footage showed the Rangers shooting Shah at close range in a public park in Karachi named after the assassinated Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The civilian who was sentenced to life is seen grabbing Shah by the hair and dragging him over to a group of Rangers. Shah pleads for mercy before one of the soldiers shoots him twice. Shah then falls to the ground in a pool of blood while the soldiers stood around him.
"We have found justice. The court has given the right decision," the prosecutor, Muhammad Khan Buriro, said.
Salik Shah, a brother of the victim, said: "We are satisfied with the punishment, and we hope that the higher courts will also keep them and overturn the appeals of the accused."
A lawyer for the convicted Rangers said they would appeal against their sentences.
While commonly seen as part of the military establishment, the Rangers are directly controlled by the civilian government.
Pakistanis have traditionally been wary of criticising the army and its powerful intelligence service. "I would like to say that it was the personal action of the soldiers involved, and not an act by the Rangers," Buriro said.
In an unusual move by civilian authorities, however, the country's highest court ordered the transfer of the director general of the Rangers in Sindhfollowing the killing. In another rare sign of public accountability, a naval official said last week that three senior Pakistani naval officers would face courts martial on charges of negligence in connection with the attack on Bin Laden's compound in May.
Pakistani Ranger sentenced to death for killing unarmed civilian | World news | The Guardian
The anti-terrorism court also sentenced five other Rangers and a civilian to life imprisonment. It imposed a fine of 200,000 rupees (£1,420) on the Ranger receiving the death penalty, and 100,000 rupees each on the others.
The killing, which happened in Karachi, was caught on video and broadcast on television, deepening anger against security forces already tarnished by their failure to detect the US commando raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed in May.
The shooting of Sarfaraz Shah, who was unarmed, also triggered criticism of Pakistan's human rights record and its unpopular government, which many say has failed to rein in the police and army.
The footage showed the Rangers shooting Shah at close range in a public park in Karachi named after the assassinated Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The civilian who was sentenced to life is seen grabbing Shah by the hair and dragging him over to a group of Rangers. Shah pleads for mercy before one of the soldiers shoots him twice. Shah then falls to the ground in a pool of blood while the soldiers stood around him.
"We have found justice. The court has given the right decision," the prosecutor, Muhammad Khan Buriro, said.
Salik Shah, a brother of the victim, said: "We are satisfied with the punishment, and we hope that the higher courts will also keep them and overturn the appeals of the accused."
A lawyer for the convicted Rangers said they would appeal against their sentences.
While commonly seen as part of the military establishment, the Rangers are directly controlled by the civilian government.
Pakistanis have traditionally been wary of criticising the army and its powerful intelligence service. "I would like to say that it was the personal action of the soldiers involved, and not an act by the Rangers," Buriro said.
In an unusual move by civilian authorities, however, the country's highest court ordered the transfer of the director general of the Rangers in Sindhfollowing the killing. In another rare sign of public accountability, a naval official said last week that three senior Pakistani naval officers would face courts martial on charges of negligence in connection with the attack on Bin Laden's compound in May.
Pakistani Ranger sentenced to death for killing unarmed civilian | World news | The Guardian
