LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the interior ministry to arrange meeting of 10 Pakistani citizens, recently released from Bagram Theatre Internment Camp, Afghanistan, with their families within 10 days.

Earlier, the ministry formally admitted before the court that 10 citizens had been released from US captivity at Bagram jail and handed over to Pakistani authorities.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) for the release of Pakistani citizens detained at Bagram jail.

JPP’s counsel Barrister Sarah Belal expressed concern about the well being of the repatriated citizens in custody of local authorities.

Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan directed the ministry to ensure that the repatriated detainees were not harmed and also directed it to keep them in a prison and not in a ‘safe house’.

Those released include Awal Noor, Bismillah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Paizoo Khan, Farman Shah, Abdul Sattar, Shah Khalid, Wajid Rehman, Rehmatullah, Sallah Muhammad (Yunus Rehmatullah).

It was contended in the petition that at least 25 Pakistani citizens had been detained at Bagram jail without any charge or trial since 2003. It alleged that they were abducted from Pakistan and removed to the US prison in Afghanistan.

NO MARK-UP ON FINE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday ruled that the NAB could not recover markup on amount of fine imposed by trial court on a convict.

A division bench, headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa, also suspended an order passed by an accountability court.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2014