Throughout the trial of Noor Mukadam's murder, Zahir Jaffer made a spectacle of himself and the proceedings, with his antics ranging from entitled to deranged.
When he was first arrested, Zahir acted as though he did not speak or understand Urdu while claiming that he was being denied a lawyer. He repeatedly mentioned that he was an American citizen.
His court stunts began on day one, when during his indictment hearing in October Zahir repeatedly interrupted the proceedings, demanding a phone call and telling the court, "My life is in danger. Have mercy on me."
“My life is in your hands, you can save it, you can give me death sentence, but I don’t deserve such a miserable life in jail. I want to marry and bring up my children,” he pled.
Zahir admitted that he had killed Noor “because she presented herself and was willing to be sacrificed”, adding that his father told him to 'get rid of the body'.
https://twitter.com/nayadaurpk/status/1448692257507487746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1448692257507487746%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefridaytimes.com%2Fcourt-indicts-12-including-main-accused-zahir-jaffer-and-parents-zahir-makes-bizarre-statements-to-reporters-in-video%2F
Also early in the proceedings, Zahir told reporters outside the courtroom that the trial was a 'big joke', using an expletive.
In November, Zahir had to be forcibly removed from the courtroom after he began hurling expletives at Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani, who presided over the case. Zahir was carried out of the courtroom by his hands and legs, kicking and resisting. Judge Rabbani termed the disruption a 'drama.'
https://twitter.com/justicefornoor/status/1450860516935536642?s=24
By mid-January, Zahir Jaffer refused to stand. He was escorted by police into the courtroom handcuffed and sitting listlessly in a chair. His seemingly degenerating condition prompted his counsel, Junior lawyer Usman Riaz Gul, to request an additional medical check-up for the accused.
“The mental condition of the accused has worsened,” Gul had observed of his client.
At a later hearing, he was carried into the courtroom prone on a stretcher. Several days later, doctors from Rawalpindi Central Jail Adiala declared Zahir medically and psychologically ‘completely fit’ after he underwent a medical examination.
“The accused was also examined by a psychiatrist who declared that he is [mentally] fit,” a medical report said.
In his final, and perhaps most brazen act, at the eleventh hour Zahir Jaffer declared he was innocent. He stated that he and his parents were being falsely accused by ‘state machinery and media,’ and dubiously claimed that Noor had been murdered during a 'drug party' she had hosted at his house, despite evidence to the contrary.
It was not the first time the defence has resorted to character assassination of the victim. On January 17th, Zahir’s lawyer had insinuated that Noor had acted immorally and improperly by going to Zahir’s house at all.
“Keeping that in mind that you have been an ambassador to this country, tell me is it acceptable for a guy and a girl to have such a relation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?” the lawyer asked Noor’s father, who previously served as Pakistan’s ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan.
As the trial neared its end, Zahir further claimed that the Mukadam family was trying to extort him. “The petitioner, Shaukat Mukadam, wants to get money from us and for that reason, he along with police officials, built a case against me and my family,” Zahir Jaffer claimed in a written statement submitted to the court.
“Had the police included the people who attended in the probe then there would have been no case against me,” Zahir Jaffer said in his final attempt to evade responsibility for his crime.
Days later, Zahir Jaffer was found guilty of the murder of Noor Mukadam on February 24 and sentenced to death.
When he was first arrested, Zahir acted as though he did not speak or understand Urdu while claiming that he was being denied a lawyer. He repeatedly mentioned that he was an American citizen.
His court stunts began on day one, when during his indictment hearing in October Zahir repeatedly interrupted the proceedings, demanding a phone call and telling the court, "My life is in danger. Have mercy on me."
“My life is in your hands, you can save it, you can give me death sentence, but I don’t deserve such a miserable life in jail. I want to marry and bring up my children,” he pled.
Zahir admitted that he had killed Noor “because she presented herself and was willing to be sacrificed”, adding that his father told him to 'get rid of the body'.
https://twitter.com/nayadaurpk/status/1448692257507487746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1448692257507487746%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefridaytimes.com%2Fcourt-indicts-12-including-main-accused-zahir-jaffer-and-parents-zahir-makes-bizarre-statements-to-reporters-in-video%2F
Also early in the proceedings, Zahir told reporters outside the courtroom that the trial was a 'big joke', using an expletive.
In November, Zahir had to be forcibly removed from the courtroom after he began hurling expletives at Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani, who presided over the case. Zahir was carried out of the courtroom by his hands and legs, kicking and resisting. Judge Rabbani termed the disruption a 'drama.'
https://twitter.com/justicefornoor/status/1450860516935536642?s=24
By mid-January, Zahir Jaffer refused to stand. He was escorted by police into the courtroom handcuffed and sitting listlessly in a chair. His seemingly degenerating condition prompted his counsel, Junior lawyer Usman Riaz Gul, to request an additional medical check-up for the accused.
“The mental condition of the accused has worsened,” Gul had observed of his client.
At a later hearing, he was carried into the courtroom prone on a stretcher. Several days later, doctors from Rawalpindi Central Jail Adiala declared Zahir medically and psychologically ‘completely fit’ after he underwent a medical examination.
“The accused was also examined by a psychiatrist who declared that he is [mentally] fit,” a medical report said.
In his final, and perhaps most brazen act, at the eleventh hour Zahir Jaffer declared he was innocent. He stated that he and his parents were being falsely accused by ‘state machinery and media,’ and dubiously claimed that Noor had been murdered during a 'drug party' she had hosted at his house, despite evidence to the contrary.
It was not the first time the defence has resorted to character assassination of the victim. On January 17th, Zahir’s lawyer had insinuated that Noor had acted immorally and improperly by going to Zahir’s house at all.
“Keeping that in mind that you have been an ambassador to this country, tell me is it acceptable for a guy and a girl to have such a relation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?” the lawyer asked Noor’s father, who previously served as Pakistan’s ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan.
As the trial neared its end, Zahir further claimed that the Mukadam family was trying to extort him. “The petitioner, Shaukat Mukadam, wants to get money from us and for that reason, he along with police officials, built a case against me and my family,” Zahir Jaffer claimed in a written statement submitted to the court.
“Had the police included the people who attended in the probe then there would have been no case against me,” Zahir Jaffer said in his final attempt to evade responsibility for his crime.
Days later, Zahir Jaffer was found guilty of the murder of Noor Mukadam on February 24 and sentenced to death.