September 19, 2003	Friday	Rajab 21, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 18: The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) has criticized the government for stopping a group of MNAs from meeting jailed party leader Asif Ali Zardari in an accountability court in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference, PPP secretary-general Raja Pervez Ashraf termed this decision a violation of human rights and an ‘act of victimization’.

He said it was the right of every citizen to meet any person appearing in any case in a court.

Giving details, Mr Ashraf said he had taken a delegation of MNAs from Sindh, comprising Anwar Bhutto, Ramesh Lal, Khalid Iqbal Memon and Qurban Shah, to the accountability court where Asif Ali Zardari was to appear in the assets case.

The PPP secretary-general said when they reached there the court registrar informed them that their names had been deleted from the list of visitors and therefore, they could not meet Mr Zardari.

Flanked by all the four MNAs from Sindh, the PPP secretary- general vowed to raise the matter in the National Assembly through a privilege motion.

He said under the country’s laws, an MNA could visit jails and meet inmates anytime and anywhere without any let or hindrance.

He said the PPP MNAs believed that their privilege had been breached by this callous act of the government. He asked the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice and take action against the responsible persons.