Fahad Malik’s brother appeals for speedy justice

LONDON: British Pakistani Barrister Fahad Sohrab Malik’s murder trial has not started yet, a year on from his gruesome murder in the heart of Pakistan’s Federal Capital, Islamabad.

Barrister Fahad Malik, who studied law at the Lincoln's Inn here, was murdered on the night of 14 August last year in Islamabad. He was coming out of Shalimar Police Station after performing his professional duty, acting for a client, when his car was stopped and bullets sprayed on him.

A year on, the trial has not yet started and every kind of delaying tactic has been used to delay the proceedings on one pretext or another allegedly by the accused who remain in Adiala jail.

Jawad Sohrab Malik, younger brother of Fahad Malik, told this scribe that the alleged killers and their legal team have been delaying the proceedings on many counts. He said they had been seeking adjournments in a case he has filed at the Islamabad High Court where the matter related to sending the case to the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) is pending and the honourable judges have even observed this in their written order yet the case remains to be decided.

Honourable judges Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Noor-ul-Haq Qureshi wrote in March this year in a court order that they tried their best to conclude the arguments and the respondents were given chances. The judges wrote that they have observed that "they have no intention to proceed with the matter before this bench. We have already heard the arguments in detail but for the remaining arguments, they have shown their reluctance”.

They wrote that “keeping in view sensitivities involved in this case it is required to be heard by a learned Bench of this Court”. Jawad Sohrab shared how his family has been unable to move on and how their lives have come to a halt. “We cannot just forget what happened.

The most beloved person to us all in our lives has been taken away from us. For us, life will go ahead only when there is justice and when we know the culprits have been given the right punishment. Until that happens, it is impossible for us to move on. For us, happiness is gone. It’s a tragedy for us all everyday knowing that Fahad is not with us. He was taken away from us in the most barbaric manner.”

Jawad Sohrab Malik said it has become even more painful that the whole nation celebrates Pakistan’s Independence Day on 14 August, however this night reminds them of the loss of a loved one on the same day who was killed in a “terror attack by the outlaws who have no respect for the rule of law and who consider themselves law unto themselves”.   

The News had revealed how Fahad Malik’s alleged killers are enjoying luxurious lifestyle in Adiala jail with help from the jail administration and have access to facilities such as mobile phones, laptops and wifi internet. Jawad Sohrab said that the alleged killers are influential and rich and they are continuing to enjoy a VIP lifestyle in jail with help from the jail authorities, and it is business as usual for them. 

Jawad said that for one year, there has been little progress in a simple murder case just because the accused have been allowed to use their money and influence to run rings around the system. “This is the prevention of justice. Everything has been done by the accused to frustrate the system so that they could buy more time or play around the system.”

Jawad Sohrab Malik, who is running campaign to get justice for his brother, said Fahad’s alleged killers had used illegal automatic Kalashnikovs in a public place on a main road spreading fear throughout the society in the federal capital Islamabad. He appealed to the superior judiciary to expedite the case and help him get justice for his brother.