September 03, 2008	Wednesday	Ramazan 2, 1429

PESHAWAR, Sept 2: Six Nepalese, including five juveniles, arrested under the Frontier Crimes Regulation by the administration of the Khyber Agency, have challenged their detention in the Peshawar High Court.

They filed a habeas corpus petition requesting the court to declare their detention illegal and unconstitutional and to set them free.

The petition was filed under Article 199 of the Constitution read with section 491 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The detainees, apparently cheated by some Pakistani members of a group involved in human smuggling, were going to Afghanistan when they were arrested by the authorities in Landi Kotal on June 11.

They include an adult, Tirthi Bahadur Gaurang, and five juveniles, Chandra Bahadur Tamang, Subah Bahadur Tamang, Prem Bahadur Tamang, Shyam Lal Tamang and Buddhiman Tamang.

The juveniles have been lodged at a section set up for youthful offenders. Their ages are stated to be between 15 to 18 years.

The petition was jointly filed by Voice of Prisoners chairman Noor Alam Khan and advocate Immad Khan of the Dost Welfare Foundation.

They said the detainees had entered Pakistan via India on valid travel documents and their stay in Pakistan was not illegal. They stated that the detainees were going to Afghanistan via the Torkham border in the Khyber Agency and were having proper documents, but were arrested by the authorities of the agency.

They said the detainees had been charged under section 14 of the Foreigners Act and section 11/40 of the FCR and sent to the Peshawar Central Prison on July 7.

The respondents in the petition are the political agent of the Khyber Agency, assistant political agent of Landi Kotal, Peshawar Central Prison’s superintendent and the state through the NWFP advocate-general.The petitioners stated that they had been kept in illegal detention by the respondents. They contended that detention of foreigners under the FCR was illegal.

The detainees had last month sent a letter to the Voice of Prisoners requesting for legal assistance because they did not have resources for hiring a counsel. The Nepalese Embassy in Islamabad has also not taken any interest in the release of its nationals.