Model Town affectees boycott proceedings after witness slapped in court

LAHORE: Affectees of the 2014 Model Town massacre on Thursday boycotted court proceedings after one of their witnesses was slapped inside the court by the defence counsel, ARY News reported.

According to ARY News correspondent, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) which was hearing the case saw a defence counsel slapping one of the affectees named Mohsin Rasool in the courtroom prompting the others to leave the court in protest.

The affectees, their counsels and witnesses not only left the court in protest but have also written to the judge to address their grievances.

“The honorable judge has assured that all our grievances will be addressed,”  a PAT representative told media.

Back in April, a two-member bench of Supreme Court Lahore Registry, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar, heard the suo motu case on delay in the provision of justice to the victims of Model Town incident.

During the hearing, the apex court directed ATC to hear the case on a day-to-day basis.

On July 17, 2014, 14 people were killed and 100 others injured when the police opened fire to scatter protesting PAT workers during an anti-encroachment operation outside the residence of PAT chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri in Model Town.

A Judicial Commission was formed whose report was made public in December last year.

https://arynews.tv/en/shahbaz-sharif-model-town-report-findings/