|
|
|
| September 16, 2005 | Friday | Sha'aban 11, 1426 |
UK bombing suspect granted bail
PESHAWAR, Sep 15: A judicial magistrate has granted bail to a British national, Zeeshan Siddiqui, who had been interrogated by local and British intelligence personnel in connection with the July 7 London bombings. Mr Siddiqui, 23, has been charged with possessing a forged Pakistani identity card.
“The accused-applicant will be set free after furnishing two surety bonds of Rs50,000 each,” said the magistrate, Mohsin Ali Turk. The court heard the bail-petition of Mr Siddiqui, presently imprisoned in the Peshawar Central Prison, on Sept 10.
“As Mr Siddiqui has not been charged by the Pakistani agencies in any other case. Therefore, he will be released by the prison authorities after furnishing the bail bonds,” said the counsel for Mr Siddiqui, Mussarat Hilali, a former vice-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
“He said that he is innocent and has no links with the July 7 bombings,” said Ms Hilali after meeting Mr Siddiqui in prison on Thursday.
On Friday, the relatives of Mr Siddiqui are expected to visit Peshawar for the purpose of furnishing surety bonds on his behalf. He is expected to be released from prison on Saturday.
Media reports suggest that the governments of Pakistan and Britain are close to an agreement on an extradition treaty. Once the treaty comes into force, Mr Siddiqui will be extradited.
However, the youth’s counsel told Dawn that he was eager to return to the UK after his release from prison.
Ms Hilali said that probably the only thing which went against Mr Siddiqui was his acquaintance with Junaid Babar, a naturalised Pakistani-American, arrested by a terrorism task force in the US in April 2004.
A court official said that during one of his appearances in court, Mr Siddiqui had complained of severe torture by Pakistani agencies seeking information about Al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks.
Mr Siddiqui remained in a local hospital for psychiatric treatment. His eye-sight has become impaired allegedly due to torture.
On three separate occasions British intelligence officials have visited Mr Siddiqui in prison. “One of the meetings was very long and continued till late night,” informed an official of the central prison.
Although Mr Siddiqui was arrested before the July 7 London bombings, local and foreign media suspect him to be the missing link between the bombings and Al-Qaeda.
However, official sources said that the intelligence agencies could not establish his direct involvement in those bombings.
Mr Siddiqui was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on May 17, 2005, from Shabqadar tehsil, situated about 30 kilometres north of Peshawar in the adjacent Charssada district.
The prosecution claimed that Mr Siddiqui had initially introduced himself as Shehzad from Madina Colony in Hyderabad. Later however his true identity was revealed.
An FIR was registered against him at the CID police station on May 18 under sections 419, 420, 468 and 471 of Pakistan Penal Code read with section 14 of Foreigners Act of 1946. The sections B of PPC deal with forgery and impersonation.
The prosecution also charged him with not possessing any valid visit documents including passport which is a crime under the Foreigners Act.
Ms Hilali contended that section 14 of Foreigners Act could not be applied to Mr Siddiqui as his parents were Pakistani.
The court observed that it was a case of further inquiry as the prosecution had not been able to prove that the identity card in his possession was not genuine. The court observed that the prosecution had not acquired any report from the National Database and Registration Authority regarding the card’s authenticity.
Mr Siddiqui has claimed that he reached Pakistan on a six-month valid visa for the purpose of visiting Raiwind, a place in Lahore district known for an annual religious congregation. He said that as his visa had expired, he had given his passport to one of his acquaintances for renewal of the visa.
In the meantime, he told the investigators that he learned that the police had been looking for him as Junaid Babar had given his name during interrogation.
Due to fear, he claimed he had left Lahore and had gone to live with an inhabitant of Shabqadar for a few days before CID officials arrested him.
|
|
|
|
