Family hopes for justice as hearing to resume on Fahad Malik’s murder case

Family hopes for justice as hearing to resume on Fahad Malik’s murder case

LONDON: British-Pakistani entrepreneur Jawad Malik, brother of slain barrister Fahad Malik, hopes for his family to get justice from the court and killers to be punished so that a strong message is sent out to those wanting to take law in their hands.

Jawad Sohrab, who divides his time between London and Islamabad, said that hearing of Barrister Fahad Malik’s murder case will be resumed by a divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) comprising of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.

Fahad was brutally murdered by a notorious group of gangsters in Islamabad, who blocked Margalla Road on the night of August 14 2016, a few yards away from Shalimar police station.

‘Waiting for justice’

According to Jawad, before the trial started in December 2016, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge Syed Kausar Abbass Zaidi sent the case to the ordinary courts. The aggrieved brother said he challenged the order of the ATC judge through a writ petition, where a divisional bench of the IHC comprising Justice Noor-ul-Haq Qureshi and Justice Aamer Farooq suspended the order of the ATC judge, in February 2017. However, even after the passage of an entire year, the matter was still pending before the IHC.

Jawad said it was no secret that the accused are hardened criminals. But Fahad had no enmity with anyone, the brother told Geo News.

He added that Fahad was only at the police station in Islamabad as an arbitrator, wanting to reach a compromise, which eventually happened.

But Fahad’s killers were the ones who had faked the compromise and were actually planning to kill him.

“When Barrister Fahad Malik left the police station, his car was chased and Margalla Road was blocked after which he was sprayed with bullets from automatic weapons,” Jawad said. “As a result, his car went out of control and crashed into a nearby house.

“My brother suffered six bullet wounds to his body which led to his death on the spot.”

More pertinently, the empty cartridges recovered from the crime scene immediately preceding Fahad’s murder matched with the two Kalashnikovs that were later found in the accused’s possession, as evidenced by the government’s forensic department.

Hearing on case

The most recent hearing took place on January 22, where Jawad’s counsels Khawaja Harris and Asma Jahangir concluded their arguments.

During his arguments, Harris stated that it was ironic how the ATC judge had ignored many vital factors while reaching a seriously defective judgement.

On the other hand, Jahangir repeatedly emphasised that Fahad’s killers had given a clear message to the society that they were above the law and that no one should mess with them.

“They take pride in their criminal record and such elements in the society must be dealt with strictly,” she said. “An exemplary punishment should be awarded to such criminals to ensure that we do not lose more Fahads at the hands of such mafias. This has to stop.”

The main accused, Raja Arshad, attempted to escape Pakistan through Torkham border, when he received bail, shortly after Fahad’s murder.

But Arshad was apprehended by Federal Investigation Agency officials and even the assistant political agent of Landikotal registered an FIR against him for being involved in crimes against the state.