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| November 24, 2006 | Friday | Ziqa'ad 2, 1427 |
Greek court frees Pakistani on bail
ATHENS, Nov 23: A prominent member of Greece's Pakistani community arrested for allegedly trafficking illegal immigrants was freed on bail on Thursday, a judicial source said.
Javied Aslam was ordered by an Athens court to pay 30,000 euros ($38,600), was forbidden to leave Greece and will have to report to his local police station every two days, the source said.
The head of the “Unity” community of Pakistanis resident in Greece, Aslam was arrested at his Athens home on Nov 6 by officers serving an Interpol warrant on the trafficking of illegal immigrants.
The international police agency issued the request in response to accusations by Pakistani authorities that Aslam served as a middle man in transferring clandestine immigrants from Pakistan to Greece.
Supporters of Aslam, who has lodged a request for political asylum in Greece, claim that he is being persecuted for condemning the alleged illegal detention and interrogation of some 10 Pakistani immigrants in Greece last year after the July 7, 2005 public transport bombings in London.
The immigrants were allegedly detained for several days before being released.
In May, the Greek government denied any involvement of the country's intelligence services in the matter -- although a Greek prosecutor said two senior intelligence agents may have had some part in the kidnappings.
The prosecutor's conclusions paved the way for legal proceedings against the two officers, which so far have produced no results.
Eighty academics, unionists and politicians from various countries have signed a document demanding Aslam's release, including former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella, British left-wing MP George Galloway and Susanne George, a leading member of the international anti-capitalist organisation Attac.
The leader of Greece's small Left Coalition parliamentary party Alekos Alavanos on Tuesday testified as a defence witness in Aslam's trial, and later praised the Pakistani for helping highlight the alleged abduction issueissues.—AFP
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