Key witness suspended from testifying against ousted Pakistani prime minister

Judge calls testimony in hijacking trial hearsay

February 11, 2000
Web posted at: 1:10 a.m. HKT (1710 GMT)

KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- The judge in the hijacking trial of ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif temporarily suspended testimony from a crucial witness in the case Thursday, and could bar the witness from testifying at all.

The surprise development came after Lt. Col. Atiquzaman Kiyani -- the sole complainant in the case against Sharif and six co-defendants -- took the stand. Sharif's attorneys objected to Kiyani's testimony, calling it hearsay and therefore inadmissible as evidence against the deposed prime minister.

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Sharif on trial

Kiyani testified that he had gone to Karachi airport last October 12 to meet a flight carrying then-Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who later took over the country from Sharif.

"At the airport," he said, "I came to know that Flight PK-805 has been refused landing permission."

When Judge Rehmat Hussain Jafri asked him from whom he got that information, Kiyani said, "I came to know through Flight Operations."

The judge asked, "Who in the Flight Operations?"

"I don't know, but there were several people at the airport also talking about this thing, that the other flights were also being diverted," Kiyani replied.

Trial to resume Friday with other witnesses

The defense said none of the pretrial statements of the prosecution's 54 witnesses mentioned providing information to Kiyani -- including those of witnesses from Flight Operations.

The prosecution argued that the witness be allowed to continue testifying. But Jafri described the testimony as sounding like "a classic example of hearsay" and told the witness to step down for the time being.

The judge said he would rule on the admissibility of the evidence next week. Meanwhile, the trial will resume Friday with other witnesses.

Sharif and his six co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of hijacking, attempted murder, kidnapping and terrorism stemming from the October 12 flight, which was allegedly denied permission to land in Pakistan.

If convicted of hijacking they could face the death penalty.

The aircraft in question -- allegedly low on fuel and carrying 198 passengers and crew, including Musharraf -- did land safely in Karachi after the army took over the airport. Within hours of the landing, Musharraf took over the country and detained Sharif.

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