Victim's Brother Demands Detained U.S. Official Be Hanged
Feb. 17, 2011 — -- Moments after a Pakistani court once again rejected U.S. demands to release an American "technical advisor" accused in a deadly shooting, the brother of one of the shooting victims told reporters today he and his family demand Raymond Davis be executed.
"Our demand from the first day is that we want him hanged, nothing other than this," the man said after a court decided Davis would be detained for at least another three weeks while the Pakistani central government determines Davis' eligibility for immunity.
"We curse their money, visa and country," the man said, possibly referring to Pakistani news reports that the families have been offered financial compensation for their loss.
The wife of the same man who was shot committed suicide earlier this month, but not before telling local media she wanted Davis' "blood."
After the hearing, Cameron Munter, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, said today he was "disappointed" the Pakistani central government did not certify Davis as a diplomat and release him under diplomatic immunity.
Davis, 36, is accused of shooting and killing two men who the U.S. State Department said were trying to rob him. Ever since his arrest, mystery has surrounded the man President Barack Obama called "our diplomat."
In the days after the shooting, the U.S. State Department denied that the man in Pakistani custody was Raymond Davis, despite Pakistani officials, court documents and one source close to Davis saying otherwise. Eventually Davis was revealed to be a member of the embassy's "technical and administrative staff," but the State Department has refused to answer questions about his specific job in Pakistan. When Davis was arrested, he reportedly possessed a loaded gun, GPS equipment, pictures of what Pakistani police called "sensitive areas" of Pakistan, as well as a diplomatic passport.
Public records show Davis has experience with the U.S. Special Forces and runs a small security company that provides "loss prevention specialists," according to the company website which is no longer active.
Complicating matters, several Pakistani officials told ABC News that the men Davis allegedly shot were not small time criminals, but agents of the country's premier intelligence service, the ISI, who had been tracking Davis -- a claim the U.S. government vehemently denies.
Davis is being held in a "high security" prison where he is being treated like any other inmate, Carmela Conroy, the U.S. Consul General in Lahore, said Tuesday -- a claim disputed by a Pakistani lawyer today. That lawyer claimed in court today that Davis had access to alcohol, cell phones, television and "other things of pleasure."
"Ray is being treated like a regular prisoner," Conroy said earlier this week. "He has no access to a television, telephone, internet or any other electronic devices, and cannot communicate directly with his family."
