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Policeman ‘inside jeep during attack’
By NOOR TOORANI
Published: 17th February 2009
A POLICEMAN allegedly killed by a mob hurling Molotov cocktails was in his patrol jeep when his colleagues fired shots from inside, defence witnesses claimed in court yesterday. Nineteen Bahraini men are standing trial accused of murdering Pakistani policeman Majid Asghar Ali Kareem Baksh, 24, when his patrol jeep was allegedly attacked in Karzakan, in April.
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Policeman ‘inside jeep during attack’
By NOOR TOORANI
Published: 17th February 2009
A POLICEMAN allegedly killed by a mob hurling Molotov cocktails was in his patrol jeep when his colleagues fired shots from inside, defence witnesses claimed in court yesterday. Nineteen Bahraini men are standing trial accused of murdering Pakistani policeman Majid Asghar Ali Kareem Baksh, 24, when his patrol jeep was allegedly attacked in Karzakan, in April.
Extra riot police surrounded the Islamic Affairs and Justice Ministry complex in the Diplomatic Area yesterday, as the men appeared before the High Criminal Court.
The defence team cross-examined two key defence witnesses, who claimed they heard gunshots coming from inside the patrol jeep.
“I was with my friend when my car broke down on the Karzakan road because of overheating, when we heard a jeep beeping from the other side,” said the 30-year-old Bahraini man.
“We saw the white jeep speeding towards the roundabout, before it hit the pavement and climbed to the other side.
“I then saw the passenger step out of it and open the door of the driver’s side, as he (driver) went to the back of the jeep to get something.
“Then we suddenly heard shots from inside the jeep and a few seconds later it was on fire.
“We got out of there as soon as we could because the shots scared us and we didn’t even wait for my car to cool down.”
His 25-year-old friend also told the court they didn’t see any rioters in the area and that the road was clear of stones and bricks.
The men’s defence team tried to prove the patrol jeep caught on fire due to the shots fired from inside and not from the alleged Molotov attack.
However their arguments didn’t account for the dents in the jeep, which prosecutors say were caused when the mob allegedly hurled stones and bricks at the policemen.
Chief medical examiner Dr Mohammed Saleh Fakhri, earlier told judges that Mr Baksh died from a head injury he sustained as he fell out of his patrol jeep, after it came under attack.
He fell as he tried to get out of the patrol car when it was ambushed by a mob hurling stones and Molotov cocktails, fracturing his skull and causing internal bleeding, it was alleged earlier.
Two other witnesses, who were in a farmhouse close to the alleged attack, claimed they saw Mr Baksh lying on the ground while the other policemen stood next to him holding their guns.
“I was playing cards with some friends in the Karzakan Farm when we heard a jeep beeping outside, but when we went to check it out we saw that it was on fire,” said the 38-year-old Bahraini man.
“We also heard gunshots from inside the jeep, so we got scared and snuck out from the back door.”
The other Bahraini man, aged 42, said they saw one man on the ground and two others with guns.
“As we were watching what was going on, we saw a man lying on the ground, while another one stood next to him holding a gun and a third man stood on the pavement near the jeep holding his gun,” said the witness.
Yesterday’s hearing lasted an hour and a half as lawyers cross-examined nine further witnesses, who were initially not allowed into the court complex because they were related to the defendants.
They were ordered to wait outside until they were called, when defence lawyers had to go out and escort them one by one.
A mother, in her late 60s, wept in court as she asked to hug her son, saying she hadn’t seen him for six months.
She told the court he was at home at the time of the killing.
“My son came home at 6pm and had dinner with us on that day and after he sat with his sisters, he went to bed,” she told the court as she cried.
“Please let me hug my son because I wasn’t able to come to court since the beginning of the trial and I haven’t heard his voice for six months.”
Lawyers tried to calm her as she wept through her testimony and they also pleaded for her to be given five minutes with her son – to which the court agreed.
Another witness, a 22-year-old woman, whose fiance is among those accused, said he was with her all day.
“We were at his house in Karzakan in the morning and then left in the afternoon to visit my family in Buri, but when we returned at 10.30pm, the entire village was blocked and we weren’t allowed to go in, so we went back to my father’s house,” said the Bahraini woman.
The sister-in-law of one defendant told judges that he dropped her at her class the night of the attack.
“I had a class that night and he’s the one who dropped me at the institute and later picked me up at 9pm,” she told the court.
“After that we tried to go back home (in Karzakan) but weren’t allowed to enter because the entire village was blocked.”
The defence team submitted a new list of requests to the court yesterday.
The lawyers also requested the court to release their clients from police custody with a travel ban- but judges refused.
Judges took the requests under consideration and adjourned the case until March 15 for further cross-examination of defence witnesses.
It is understood the trial is expected to be over and a verdict reached within three months. noor@gdn.com.bh
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