Amir Cheema
Amir Abdul Rehman Cheema (Urdu: عامر چیمہ; 4 Dec 1977 – 3 May 2006) was a Pakistani Islamist and textile engineering student in Germany who entered the offices of the German daily newspaper Die Welt on 20 March 2006 with a large knife and attempted to murder Roger Köppel. Cheema was later arrested by building security guards.[1][2][3]
On 3 May 2006, while awaiting trial and in German police custody, he was found dead in his cell.[4]
Pakistanis questioned the German's official version of the story and three MPs from a coalition of religious parties introduced a motion in National Assembly of Pakistan to discuss the student's death.[5][6] While rumors spread after his death that he was tortured in the German prison, the German authorities produced a suicide note for Pakistan's foreign office.[7]
In the course of the investigation, the German judicial system concluded his death was a suicide.[5][8]
References
- "Pakistani found dead in German jail". Al Jazeera English website. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- Gebauer, Matthias; Musharbash, Yassin (5 May 2006). "Suicide after attempted attack on editor-in-chief of "Die Welt"". Spiegel (German magazine). Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- Ijaz Mehr (5 May 2006). "Condemns death of arrested Pakistani". BBC News website. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- "Huge crowds at Pakistani funeral". BBC News website. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- "Man suspected of cartoons revenge plot kills himself". The Scotsman (newspaper). 6 May 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- "Reservations over Cheema death report". Dawn (newspaper). 20 May 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- "Berlin gives Amir's suicide note to FO (Foreign Office)". Dawn (newspaper). 9 May 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- Richard Bernstein (10 May 2006). "A death in Berlin reignites Muslim anger". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2021.