Dec
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Best Bakery Witness Recants, Again
December 2, 2004 | Comments Off on Best Bakery Witness Recants, Again
The second renouncement of key witness Zahira Sheikh further strained the fight for justice for victims and survivors of the 2002 pogroms against Muslims in Gujarat. Zahira Sheikh had initially identified the persons responsible for burning down her father’s factory and killing 14 people. In court, she became a hostile witness. Later, at a press conference in Bombay, she explained that she had been threatened by leading members of the BJP and had turned hostile to protect herself and her family. The Supreme Court ordered the retrial of the case; before she was to testify, Zahira has again retracted her comments, saying she was pressured by human rights activists to identify perpetrators:
The witness contradicted previous statements and now says he fainted and cannot identify any defendants…
On Thursday, [another] witness Nasibullah told the court in Maharashtra’s state capital Mumbai (Bombay) that he had fainted following the attack and did not know what happened.
His statement contradicted one he gave to Gujarat police soon after the attack and he refused to identify the 17 men who are in court facing charges in the retrial. The other four from the first trial have absconded…
Zahira’s sister-in-law, Yasmin Sheikh, testified on Wednesday that Zahira Sheikh had taken money to change her statement again.
During her testimony, Yasmin identified 11 of the accused.
Human rights activists Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand have responded to the attacks made against them, by Zahira and others. They’ve approached the Supreme Court for a probe into Zahira’s second recantation. The Hindustan Times also reported on contradictions between the affidavit Zaheera filed in the case and her latest recantation.
The first eyewitness to testify and undergo cross-examination in the retrial was Toufel Shaikh Siddiqui. Another witness Avdhut Nagarkar turned hostile. Hospital staff who handled victims have also testified.
In other Gujarat news, the Nanavati-Shah commission examining the Godhra fire and the pogroms has received over 17,000 affidavits. The police have also reopened a gang-rape and murder case.
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