Pakistan court frees Raymond Davis
A Pakistan court on Wednesday freed Raymond Davis, the US diplomat accused of killing two persons in Lahore in what he claimed was in self-defence, after blood money (or Diyat) was paid in accordance with sharia law, reports said.
A Geo TV report quoting provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah said “the family members of the slain men appeared in the court and independently verified they had pardoned Davis.
He has been released from jail, he said.
Blood money is money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender (usually a murderer) or his family group to the family or kin group of the victim.
Under the shadow of a diplomatic row with United States, the court on Wednesday had first indicted the American diplomat and alleged CIA agent for gunning down two Pakistani men in Lahore in January.
While Davis had claimed that he acted in self-defence, the Pakistan authorities had refused to buy the theory and went ahead with his prosecution despite an explicit anger of the USA over the issue.
The incident occurred on Jan 27 when Davis allegedly shot dead two Pakistani men, which he said he did in self-defence.
The US said Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity and should be released, straining the ties between the two strategic allies.
The Pakistan court on Mar 3 had said it will continue with the trial of homicide-accused Raymond Davis, though it had held off on charging him due to lack of evidence.
Earlier, US President Barack Obama asked Pakistan to release Davis reminding it of the Vienna Convention.
Thirty-six-year-old Raymond Davis, a tech and admin staff at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, has been jailed since Jan. 27 on the double murder charge.
Davis has admitted to shooting the two men, Mohammad Faheem and Faizan Haider, who he said were armed and trying to rob him.
On Feb 6, the wife of Faheem, took poisonous pills and died, complicating the situation in Pakistan where there is a huge anti-US sentiment over the issue.
The US has been demanding immediate release of Davis arguing that he enjoys diplomatic immunity and has even postponed a tri-lateral meeting involving Pak recently.
Obama said, “With respect to Davis, our diplomat in Pakistan, we’ve got a very simple principle here that every country in the world that is party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations has upheld in the past and should uphold in the future.”
“If our diplomats are in another country, then they are not subject to that country’s local prosecution. We respect it with respect to diplomats who are here. We expect Pakistan, that’s a signatory and recognize Davis as a diplomat, to abide by the same convention,” he told reporters.
“Obviously, we’re concerned about the loss of life. We’re not callous about that. But there’s a broader principle at stake that I think we have to uphold,” Obama was quoted as saying.
