Pakistan puts 26/11 trial on hold as witnesses chicken out

Islamabad, Jan 24: The trial in the 26/11 attack case has been suspended in Pakistan after 19 witnesses failed to testify. While enabling the prosecution to bring the witnesses to testify, the court observed that some of them had not appeared due to fear.

The Islamabad High Court stopped the hearing until next week, following a petition by the Federal Investigation Agency, in which more time was sought. During the course of the hearing, the court observed that several witnesses were not appearing due to fear and the whereabouts about some were not known.

The trial in Pakistan has been dragging on for nearly 10 years now. India has said that this was a deliberate attempt by Pakistan to shield the perpetrators of the attack. India also said that it had provided all the evidence required in the matter.

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During the hearing, the prosecutor said that many witnesses, who had not testified had been traced. To a question on whether they would testify, the prosecutor said that they would appear in the anti-terrorism court.

The anti-terrorism court was scheduled to hear the matter on January 23, but the same was put off in the wake of the high court order. The prosecution has named Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and six others. There has been no headway in the case. It may be recalled that Lakhvi was granted bail in April 2015 and since then his whereabouts are unknown.