Doctor fights to free brother accused of murder (From Basildon Recorder)

Doctor fights to free brother accused of murder

7:10am Friday 8th March 2013 in News

A DOCTOR is fighting to free his brother from a 25-year sentence in a Pakistani jail for the murder of their father.

Dr Sajid Azeem has revealed his law graduate brother Abid Azeem, 36, is facing a possible death sentence in Pakistan following the shooting of his father, who he hasn’t named, in 2007.

The family are British citizens, and Dr Azeem has made a desperate attempt to enlist help from local councillors and Southend West Tory MP David Amess over the arrest. He has also contacted the Foreign Office and Pakistani High Commission who have not responded.

In a letter to the MP and councillors, Dr Azeem has revealed his father, mother and younger brother Abid Azeem, 36, had been in Pakistan in May 2007 when his father was shot dead in a courtyard in front of lawyers, police officers, and members of the public. Abid was found guilty of his father’s murder last year and his accusers are now lobbying for a death penalty.

Dr Azeem says that Abid insists he was in Bahawalpur with their mother, 100 miles and almost three hours drive away from the scene of the murder in Chistian, Pakistan.

Denouncing the “corrupt” Pakistani legal system, Dr Azeem said: “I fear for the safety and basic human rights of my brother Abid. I fear he is caught up in an unfair and corrupt legal system in which without outside help, he is unlikely to get justice and may even face the death penalty.”