Pakistan prosecutors resign over risk to life
Officials were handling a high-profile case in which militants had killed 45
Karachi: Two public prosecutors, who were appointed by the government to pursue the case of Safoora Goth carnage on Tuesday resigned from their positions for lack of security and appropriate financial incentives.
The Safoora Goth tragedy occurred when militants, allegedly linked to Daesh, stopped a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community in a sparsely populated area of the city. Four of the terrorists boarded the vehicle and shot 45 people, execution style.
The provincial Sindh government had in May appointed Mubashir Mirza and Mohammad Khan Burdo as special public prosecutors in the case.
The government had promised the two prosecutors that they would be provided with ample security, official residences and handsome financial packages.
Burdo talking to the media said the case had been formally registered with the court but the promises had not yet been fulfilled.
He further said, while they took the risk of prosecuting terrorists who belonged to dangerous organisations like Daesh, the government was not concerned about the prosecutors’ safety and well-being.
Law enforcement agencies had arrested at least four suspects who disclosed during interrogation that they had been taking directives from one Abdul Aziz, a Pakistani based in Syria.
The suspects who were arrested and others who were at large, were highly educated and obtained engineering and business administration degrees from reputable Pakistani universities and institutions.
The provincial government had introduced a witness protection bill in view of the increasing terrorists activities in the province.
The bill was quickly passed into law after officials realised that, due to fear of their lives, witnesses and lawyers were not coming forward to give evidence or prosecute the accused.
Later on the Sindh police had also set up a unit to provide protection for witnesses and lawyers in sensitive cases.
Nevertheless, a key witness in the murder of Sabeen Mahmoud, a right activist, was gunned down recently raising questions over the implementation of the security plans.
