KARACHI: Notices issued to foreign office in detention case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 5: The Sindh High Court issued notices to the foreign minister, the foreign secretary and the cabinet secretary in a petition seeking release of a businessman detained by the US at its Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
Petitioner Farhat Paracha says her husband, Saifullah Paracha, was picked up on July 5, 2003, while on his way from Karachi to Bangkok on a Thai visa sent to him by his American business partner.
A petition for his recovery and production was moved, but it transpired in the meantime that he had been detained by the US authorities for his suspected links with Al Qaeda. Messages sent by him through the International Committee of Red Cross were received by her.
Disposing of her earlier petition, a division bench of the high court directed the federal government authorities to protect his welfare and interest.
He was transferred from the US base at Bagram, near Kabul, to Guantanamo Bay but the authorities did nothing to seek his release. Recently, US President George Bush has announced the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison and the deportation of prisoners to their countries of origin.
However, she fears that Saifullah might not be freed and might be tried on cooked-up charges like their son, Uzair Paracha, who has been convicted and imprisoned in the US for facilitating the entry of an Al Qaeda operative.
Her counsel, Nisar A Mujahid, submitted before a division bench, comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Mohammad Afzal Soomro, that the foreign minister, the foreign secretary and the cabinet secretary were responsible for carrying out court orders and ensure Saifullah’s welfare but have failed to comply with it.
They have committed contempt of court by non-compliance. The bench directed that notices be issued to the three respondents for July 13.
REHMAN CASE: The bench asked three police officers who are stated to have brought Abdur Rehman Baloch alias Rehman Dakait from Quetta following his arrest on June 18 to file their affidavits on July 11.
Rehman’s aunt, Mst Zubeda, submitted through Advocate Omer Sial that her nephew was taken into custody with his son Ateeq, daughter Ateeqa and brother-in-law Wajid on June 18 and brought to Karachi. While Ateeq and Ateeqa were released, Wajid was described as an absconding accused in a police encounter case.
Rehman was reportedly taken to Islamabad by a law enforcement agency without being produced before a magistrate for physical remand. She apprehended threat to his life.
Her counsel argued that every individual and citizen was entitled to equal protection of law and could not be kept in confinement without being informed of allegations against him and seeking a court order for his custody.
He was brought from Quetta by police officers Chaudhry Aslam, Mohammad Sarwar and Aziz Ahmad Shaikh and they were responsible for his production. The bench ordered the police officers to file affidavits on July 11.
