LAHORE: One year after the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the court trial of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi alias Chacha Jee, the chief operational commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the alleged mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is progressing at snail’s pace inside the high-security Adiala Jail in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
The sluggish pace at which the trial is progressing can be gauged from the fact that the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi consumed one full year to frame charges against Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others for their alleged role in 26/11 attacks. It was on November 25, 2009 that the Special Anti-Terrorism Court, Rawalpindi Division, Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan, who is conducting the trial at the Adiala jail for security reasons, formally indicted the seven Lashkar suspects. However, the accused – Commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Hammad Amen Sadiq, Shaheed Jamil Riaz, Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah, Mazhar Iqbal, Yousuf Anjum and Muhammad Jamil – protested against their indictment and pleaded not guilty.
It was Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving 26/11 assailant, who had first named Commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as his trainer as well as the principal mastermind of the attacks. The case against him was bolstered by America’s FBI providing Pakistan with a taped conversation between Lakhvi and the terrorists during the mayhem in Mumbai. Then, on December 2, 2008, India officially named Zaki Lakhvi as one of the four possible masterminds of 26\11, claiming he had offered to pay Kasab’s family Rs 1, 50,000 for his participation in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. On December 7, the Pakistani security forces arrested Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and several others from the Muzaffarabad headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. However, the Pakistani authorities have already turned down Indian demand for their extradition, saying they would be tried on Pakistani soil as they were all Pakistani citizens.
On May 5, 2009, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted the challan or charge sheet along with evidence against the seven LeT suspects to Judge Kahut. He was accused of masterminding the Mumbai attacks which killed 180 people besides imparting training and providing financial support, accommodation, equipment and communications gear to the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai. The charges against the suspects were framed under the Anti-Terrorism Act, Pakistan Penal Code and a cyber crimes law. However, the ongoing trial of Zaki Lakhvi, who is considered to be a close associate of the Jamaatul Daawa (JuD) Chief Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, is not expected to conclude in the near future in view of the extremely sluggish pace at which the case proceedings are moving.
Confusion had first surrounded the status of the trial on May 23, 2009 when the contract of the judge hearing the case expired the day the seven accused were likely to be indicted by the anti-terror court judge Sakhi Mohammad Kahut. Almost five months later, on October 21, 2009, in yet another setback to the ongoing trial, Judge Baqir Ali Rana of the anti-terrorism court No 2, who was hearing the case, simply expressed his inability to continue with the proceedings, citing unavoidable reasons. His close circles were of the view that the judge was left with no other option but to quit after the lawyers of the LeT accused had expressed their no-confidence in the judge on October 10, 2009 and boycotted the case proceedings to protest his decision to formally charge all the seven suspects in their absence.
But there are those who believe that Justice Rana took the extreme step as he felt he was under pressure from “both the sides” with regard to the trial of the seven suspects, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s chief operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. There are also reports that the judge had received threats of dire consequences from some close associates of the under trial LeT leaders after he had indicted the suspects in the absence of their lawyers during a hearing on October 10.
On October 24, 2009, Malik Akram Awan replaced Baqir Ali Rana as the trial court judge on the orders of chief justice Lahore High Court Khwaja Mohammad Sharif. On November 24, on the heels of the first anniversary of the 26/11 attacks, the defence lawyers of the accused sought the extradition of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist being tried in India, in an apparent bid to further prolong the already prolonged court trial. They were of the view that since Kasab was the lone surviving attacker, and his confession to Indian authorities formed a crucial part of the case built up by Pakistani authorities against their clients, he should be brought to Pakistan to face trial. The court has fixed the case for December 5, 2009 and summoned all the witnesses.
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