Faisal Mota’s plea against death sentence accepted

Karachi
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday accepted Faisal Mehmood alias Faisal Mota’s plea challenging his death sentenced awarded in absentia.
Arrested in a raid conducted at the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) head quarters (Nine Zero), Faisal accused of killing Geo TV journalist Wali Khan Babar on January 13, 2011 was sentenced to death by an anti terrorism court (ATC) in Shikarpur along with two other accomplices S M Kamran alias Zeeshan – arrested following a brief shoot out with police in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area - on March 1, 2014.
The other three accused Mohammad Shahrukh, 24, Syed Tahir Naveed Shah, 34, and Syed Mohammad Ali Rizvi, 40, were sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2011; however, one of the co-accused Shakeel was acquitted for lack of evidence.
The appeals of all the convicts were pending before the SHC.
The ATC had observed in that Faisal had masterminded the murder whereas Zeeshan had carried executed his plan.
The court had observed that all the accused had collectively committed the offence in pursuance of common object under predetermined planning.
Faisal, however, assailed his conviction in absentia where his appellant counsel Aamir Mansoob Qureshi maintained that his conviction was not warranted under the law as section 21-L and 19 (12) of the anti terrorism law was not complied with in the case.
He said that record and proceedings of the case were lying with the SHC, therefore the court could not be approached for a trial to defend the charges.
The court was in a previous hearing prayed to set aside the conviction in absentia and send the case for a retrial.
The court admitted the appeal for hearing and issued a notice to prosecutor general for further hearing; the appeal would be heard along with that of the other convicts at SHC Larkana circuit.