AFGHANISTAN. SUPREME COURT WILL CONSIDER WILL OF CUTULI FAMILY IN TRIALS OF ZAR JAN AND REZA KHAN

“We take very much into consideration the will of the family of Maria Grazia Cutuli, their requests are very influential,” stated an internal source at the Afghan Supreme Court the day after the arrest of Mohamed Zar Jan, presumed leader of the gang which killed four journalists in Afghanistan in 2001, including the reporter from the Italian daily ‘Il Corriere della Sera’.
Following the death sentence handed down last November to a second man, Reza Khan, for his involvement in the crime, Maria Grazia Cutuli’s relatives expressed their opposition to the death penalty and asked for the commutation of Khan’s sentence into a term of imprisonment.
“Mohamed has been captured but we can’t say at this time when his trial will take place or what his punishment will be, though he could even be sentenced to death,” continued the Supreme Court source, adding that “at the end of the criminal proceedings, it will be up to President Hamid Karzai to countersign an eventual sentence of death handed down to the accused. The President will have the last word on the issue”.