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No defence witnesses for 'serial killer'
Javed Iqbal says he was forced to confess
By Shahid Malik in Lahore
When the trial court resumed on Thursday, Javed Iqbal told the judge he did not wish to produce any defence witnesses.
This followed his statement in court the day before in which he denied all criminal charges against him saying he had been coerced into making a confession.
Mr Iqbal is alleged to have killed some 100 children in the city of Lahore.
When the trial court resumed on Thursday, Javed Iqbal told the judge he did not wish to produce any defence witnesses.
This followed his statement in court the day before in which he denied all criminal charges against him saying he had been coerced into making a confession.
Mr Iqbal is alleged to have killed some 100 children in the city of Lahore.
Not a single boy has been murdered  |
Alleged killer Javed Iqbal
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In a 20-page handwritten statement submitted to the trial judge on Wednesday, Mr Iqbal said that he had been bullied by the police into confessing to the killings.
"No murder of boys was committed," he said. "Not a single boy has been murdered."
He said that drums of acid found outside his house, and used as evidence against him, contained animal rather than human remains.
He said that in addition to the rough treatment he had received at the hands of the police since his arrest, his personal servant had attempted to murder him.
Confession
Mr Iqbal is alleged to have confessed to the murders in a letter to a newspaper and in a video recording made at the newspaper office shortly before his arrest two months ago.
The prosecution say that he meticulously recorded details of the murders in his diary.
But Mr Iqbal said he only made the diary entries after copying them from the notebook of one of his friends who later died in the police custody.
He told the court that he wanted to give the authorities the impression the boys had been murdered so that they would take more action to protect homeless children.
Mr Iqbal's three alleged accomplices also denied any involvement in the killings.
All four have pleaded not guilty and the trial continues.
"No murder of boys was committed," he said. "Not a single boy has been murdered."
He said that drums of acid found outside his house, and used as evidence against him, contained animal rather than human remains.
He said that in addition to the rough treatment he had received at the hands of the police since his arrest, his personal servant had attempted to murder him.
Confession
Mr Iqbal is alleged to have confessed to the murders in a letter to a newspaper and in a video recording made at the newspaper office shortly before his arrest two months ago.
 'Animal not human remains'
|
But Mr Iqbal said he only made the diary entries after copying them from the notebook of one of his friends who later died in the police custody.
He told the court that he wanted to give the authorities the impression the boys had been murdered so that they would take more action to protect homeless children.
Mr Iqbal's three alleged accomplices also denied any involvement in the killings.
All four have pleaded not guilty and the trial continues.
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