Islamabad, June 30: Pakistani court on Wednesday charged six members of a paramilitary force with murder for the killing of an unarmed man, in a rare move in the face of the country’s powerful security establishment in Karachi.
Security forces shot dead Sarfaraz Shah, 22, in Karachi, accusing him of theft, but his family has demanded justice, stressing that he called for innocent people pass the time of the day.
Widely viewed footage showed a clean-shaven man wearing black trousers and a navy shirt crying and pleading for his life as a soldier cocks his rifle at his neck, then shoots him twice in the hand and thigh in a local park.
“The court has formally framed charges of murder and terrorism against all the accused,” public prosecutor Mohammad Khan Buriro told reporters.
“All the accused said they were not guilty and will contest the charges,” he added.
The soldiers and the civilian went before judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso on Wednesday, the prosecutor said.
The incident in Karachi was caught on videotape and broadcast on television channels nationwide.
The Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the case and said that the trial should be completed in 30 days.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned until Thursday.
https://archive.siasat.com/video/news/must-watch-brutalities-committed-pakistan-army
–Agencies–