KARACHI, 13 April— The alleged killer of US reporter Daniel Pearl defiantly told a court yesterday that he did not recognize “British law” and demanded a trial in an Islamic court as defense lawyers filed a contempt of court application against President Pervez Musharraf accusing him of trying to influence the court.
British-born militant Sheikh Omar, 29, stood up in the anti-terrorism court and angrily denounced the proceedings before the trial was adjourned until April 22, according to his lawyers.
“I don’t accept British laws. I don’t recognize these laws. My case should be tried under Shariah laws,” he told the court, which is sitting behind closed doors at a prison for security reasons.
Omar’s lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar said his client’s statement was “immaterial”.
“It’s not important. Every accused person is tried under Pakistani laws and Omar is Pakistani and he will also be tried under the same laws,” he told reporters outside the prison.
But he said the defense team had filed a contempt of court application against President Pervez Musharraf for giving an interview in which he allegedly said he wanted to see Omar executed.
“The respondent (Musharraf) has tried to give an impression to everyone in the country and abroad that the trial is to end in a conviction, no matter what the merits of the case,” said the application, referring to a German magazine interview.
“This is tantamount to contempt of court of the worst kind.”
Pearl was researching a story on militants when he was abducted in this volatile southern city on Jan. 23.
The kidnappers demanded the release of Pakistanis captured while fighting with the Taleban or Al-Qaeda network in neighboring Afghanistan, but Washington refused to negotiate.
In a court hearing on Feb. 14 Omar admitted to the kidnapping, and on Feb. 21 a graphic video depicting Pearl’s beheading by hidden assailants was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi. His body has not been found.
Three other accused — Sheikh Adil, Salman Saquib and Fahad Naseem — who allegedly e-mailed pictures of the Wall Street Journal reporter with a gun to his head, were also in court yesterday.
Police say the two alleged accomplices, Salman Saquib and Fahad Naseem, have confessed to their role in the kidnap, although a defense lawyer said last week Saquib had complained he had been tortured in police custody.
The special court is supposed to reach a verdict within seven days, but domestic and international human rights groups say this does not give the defense enough time to build a case and say the courts often seem designed to convict rather than find justice.
The trial was adjourned after the court officially proclaimed seven other suspects as absconders and gave them a mandatory seven days to surrender to police, lawyers said.
All 11 accused have been charged with murder, kidnapping for ransom and terrorist activities, crimes punishable by death.
Lawyers said the trial of the four men in custody would continue on April 22 whether the absconders had surrendered or not.
