Soldier Sentenced To Death Over Civilian Killing In Pakistan

The Awaz News TV channel image from June 10, 2011, shows paramilitary soldiers shooting unarmed Pakistani youth Sarfaraz Shah (left) in Karachi on June 8.

A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a soldier of a paramilitary unit for the killing of an unarmed youth in what is seen as a rare incident of members of Pakistan's powerful security establishment being publicly held accountable for a murder.

The killing at close range of Sarfaraz Shah in a park in the city of Karachi in June was caught on video and repeatedly broadcast on television, causing public outrage.

Six other people -- five paramilitary soldiers and a civilian --- were given life sentences over the murder.

The Rangers had argued that Shah had been caught trying to rob a woman, a charge his family denied.

compiled from agency reports