ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad on Thursday allowed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to record the statements of 32 British witnesses via video link in the murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.
The Agency had previously requested the court to allow it to do so.
ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand presided over the case wherein the FIA prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed presented the list of witnesses – which included the wife of the slain MQM leader – before the court and requested that the agency be allowed to record their statements via video link.
Following FIA’s request, the defence counsel raised an objection to this. However, the FIA prosecutor argued that the evidence in the case has been acquired through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The treaty allows its signatories to collect and exchange information.
Ahmed maintained that arrangements in this regard are already underway.
“Once these are complete, we can record the statements of witnesses on a daily basis,” he argued.
However, the judge voiced reservations over unnecessary inclusions on the list. This prompted the prosecutor to say that unnecessary witnesses will be struck from the list when the time comes.
He maintained that the court’s decision will be forwarded to the UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, who will inform the British Border Agency. The entire process will be done through the ministry of foreign affairs, he said.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court accepted the request.
Earlier on Monday, the head of the UK’s investigation team probing the murder case appeared before the ATC and submitted the original record of the case to the judge for perusal.
Detective Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Stewart Greenway presented murder weapons including a brick and two sharp-edged knives alongside CCTV footage, maps, diagrams of the crime scene as well as other pieces of evidence collected during the investigation as he testified before the court.
Farooq, a senior leader of the MQM, was murdered outside his home in London in 2010.
