the Case of the Freeper FRiva Feva is under scrutiny - super-sleuths are welcomed
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Posted on 06/27/2002 10:54:52 AM PDT by swarthyguy
HYDERABAD, Pakistan - (Reuters) - A Pakistani judge testified on Thursday that the man accused of masterminding the kidnap and murder of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl had surrendered to police in February a week earlier than police said they arrested him, a state lawyer said.
British-born Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three other men charged with the kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl are being tried by an anti-terrorism court behind closed doors in a prison in the southern Pakistani city of Hyderabad.
They have all denied the charges.
Chief prosecutor Raja Qureshi told reporters after Thursday's hearing that District and Sessions Judge Rauf Ahmad, who is also Sheikh Omar's uncle, told the court he accompanied his nephew to Punjab province police chief in Lahore on February 5, when his nephew surrendered himself.
The statement contradicted the initial police report that they had arrested Sheikh Omar in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, on February 12.
When he made his first court appearance in February, Sheikh Omar also said he had turned himself in on February 5 after police had arrested several members of his family.
At the time, commentators said the announcement of his arrest could have been delayed to allow intelligence services the chance to interrogate him before producing him in court, and was only made public just before President Pervez Musharraf left on a high-profile trip to Washington.
Pearl disappeared in the southern port city of Karachi on January 23 while working on stories about Islamic militants.
Soon after his disappearance police said they suspected Sheikh Omar was responsible for kidnapping him.
A month after he went missing, a gruesome video showing Pearl had been murdered was delivered to U.S. consulate officials in Karachi.
Police found a body, believed to that of Pearl, in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Karachi last month but they have not yet confirmed it was the U.S. reporter.
Qureshi said Ahmad, who appeared as a defense witness, produced his leave record to show he had taken leave on February 5 from the Lahore High Court so he could accompany his nephew to the provincial police chief's office.
Ahmad was also quoted as telling the court that Sheikh Omar was advised by his relatives to surrender after the police started harassing the family.
However, on cross-examination, the defense witness said he had no documentary evidence to establish that Sheikh Omar surrendered on February 5.
Qureshi said Sheikh Omar's father, Saeed Ahmad Sheikh, a wholesale cloth merchant from Wanstead in northeast London, would appear as a defense witness on Friday.
The court had earlier recorded the statements of all four accused in which they denied the charges against them but refused to speak under oath.
Under Pakistani law, prosecutors cannot cross-examine a defendant about a statement not made under oath, but legal experts say such a statement is expected to carry less weight with the court than one made under oath.
Under Pakistani law, prosecutors cannot cross-examine a defendant about a statement not made under oath
the Case of the Freeper FRiva Feva is under scrutiny - super-sleuths are welcomed
come resolve the way to yesterday's Target Post, you're not out of the running yet
win your registration fees to the FRive Las Vegas Conference if you dare
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