All suspected killers of Christian leader acquitted

Friday, June 26, 2009By By Shamim Bano

KarachiAll five suspects apprehended for the assassination of Christian leader Ivan Edwin Moon were acquitted on Thursday due to lack of evidence in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, South, Abdul Naeem Memon.

The trial was conducted for about one year and seven witnesses recorded their statements in the court, but the prosecution failed to produce any evidential proof. Furthermore, no one confessed before the court. The acquitted were said to be affiliated with Tehreek-e-Islami Lahskari Jhangvi, and include Asif alias Pasha, Mohammed Atif, Zubairuddin alias Sharjeel, Wajahat and Mohammed Arshad. According to the prosecution, the suspects injected Church of Pakistan Karachi Diocese Secretary Ivan Edwin Moon with poison in 2002. The incident took place within the limits of Preedy Police station on April 22, 2002. The police arrested the accused on February 26, 2008 from Akhter Colony in an FIR lodged by Samuel Griffin under Section 302. Griffin informed the trial court that he received news on May 22, 2002, that his brother-in-law Edwin had passed away. He immediately rushed to the mortuary of Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) where he discovered Moon’s corpse. The deceased’s employer, Farhan, said that Moon’s body was lying on a chair in their shop located in Al-Noor Chamber, and both his hands had been tied to the chair. Faan suspected that Moon had been administered a poisonous injection due to personal enmity. Defence Counsel Naeem Qureshi said that no eyewitness was produced and there wasn’t ample proof against the suspects. The court, in light of the facts as narrated, ordered the acquittal of five of the suspects for lack of evidence.

It is to be noted here that all the five suspects who were allegedly involved in the Rimpa Plaza murder case later the same year in which seven persons were killed also acquitted by the Anti-Terrorism Court on March 13, 2009, due to lack of evidence. Rimpa Plaza case was registered in PS Garden FIR 205/2002, Section 302Deputy-Public Prosecutor Abdul Maroof said that since there was no documentary proof against the accused, the court should close the file and acquit the accused.

(The News International)