Amir Abdur Rehman Cheema

Who was Amir Abdur Rehman Cheema?

Amir Abdur Rehman Cheema was a 28-year-old Pakistani textile engineering student who entered the offices of the German daily newspaper Die Welt on March 20, 2006 with a large knife and attempted to murder Roger Köppel. Cheema was later arrested by building security guards. He admitted his intent was to kill Roger Köppel, an editor at the paper, for reprinting the Jyllands-Posten cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. On May 3, while awaiting trial and in German police custody, he was found dead in his cell.

Pakistanis questioned the German's official version of the story. 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. In the course of the investigation, the German judicial system concluded his death was a suicide. However, a team of nine senior FIA officials from Pakistan concluded that signs of foul-play were present and his death was due to torture.German authorities' extended half-hearted cooperation towards Pakistani investigators and denied access to vital evidence when the latter visited Berlin in the month of May to verify the cause of Aamir's death. Additional Director General FIA Tariq Khosa told the senate committee few days later, that Cheema's hands were tied and the main vein of his heart was cut off, which clearly indicated that the Pakistani national was murdered.