Pak court acquits five men sentenced in activist’s murder

Lack of evidence

A high court in Pakistan on Monday acquitted all five men sentenced over the murder of renowned rights activist Perween Rahman — who was shot dead in Karachi in 2013 — citing a lack of evidence and ordered their release. The Sindh High Court decision came around nine months after an anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentenced four of the accused to life imprisonment and sent the fifth accused to jail for seven years. The trial court's verdict, which was issued after eight long years of proceedings, was subsequently challenged in the high court, reports Dawn News. In its judgement on Monday, a two-member SHC bench observed that none of the accused had been charged with “actually murdering” Rahman. Instead, the court said, the accused were charged with “planning, instigating and in effect abetting the murder”.