The Pakistani man is accused of murdering his 18-year-old daughter Saman in Emilia Romagna in 2021 with other family members after she refused an arranged marriage.

Abbas joined Saman’s uncle Danish Hasnain, and her two cousins, Ikram Ijaz and Nomanhulaq Nomanhulaq, in the courtroom in Reggio Emilia where they are on trial in relation to the killing on the night between April 30 and May 1, 2021, near the northern town of Novellara.

Before the hearing activists gathered outside the courthouse carrying a banner reading “Saman in our hearts and in our battles” and distributing an open letter to judicial authorities calling for them to receive specific training in gender-based violence.

“There are too many cases where violence has not been recognised in the courts,” read the letter.

“We call for training courses for all law enforcement personnel, the judiciary and social services.

“Training that is necessarily feminist and administered by anti-violence centres,” it continued.

Abbas was the first person to be extradited from Pakistan to Italy in what Reggio Emilia prosecutor Gaetano Calogero Paci described as “an example of the perfect functioning and credibility of the Italian judicial and institutional system”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the extradition was also “the fruit of great diplomatic work”.

Saman’s mother Nazia Shaheen is the only defendant still at large, and last week judicial authorities said they would continue to press “in silence” for her arrest and extradition from Pakistan.

Lawyers acting for Shabbar Abbas said on Friday that the woman had been at home with her husband in Pakistan when he was arrested.

“Shabbar reported that his wife was at home when he was arrested in Pakistan,” said Enrico Della Capanna and Simone Servillo on the sidelines of the hearing.

“Shabbar was in a field when he was approached by the police and turned himself over. His wife was in the house,” continued the lawyers.

They said they didn’t know if an arrest warrant had been issued by the Pakistani authorities for her as well.

ANSA