A CIA contractor charged with double murder after shooting dead two men in Lahore refused to sign a charge sheet in court Friday and insisted he had diplomatic immunity, lawyers said. The hearing in the murder case against Raymond Davis took place amid high security in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore where he is being held, and was adjourned until March 3.
"Davis refused to sign the copy insisting that he be released and claiming that he enjoys immunity," public prosecutor Abdul Samad told AFP. Samad said that Davis, who claimed he acted in self-defence when he shot the men in a busy Lahore street last month, was handcuffed during the hearing which was guarded by more than 300 armed police officers in and around the prison.
A separate legal process to determine the diplomatic immunity issues returns to the Lahore High Court on March 14. US Consul General Carmela Conroy and other American officials were present at Friday's hearing. Asad Manzoor Butt, lawyer for the families of the men who were shot dead, rejected the American's immunity claim.
"We have also received copies of the charge sheet. We will pursue this case as we want Davis to be punished for his act. We believe he does not enjoy immunity," he said. Samad has said that the immunity case before the Lahore High Court would not affect the murder charge hearings, unless the higher court barred them from proceeding.
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