RAWALPINDI: Supermodel Ayyan Ali, after languishing in Adiala Jail for 124 days, was finally released on bail at 4:40 pm on Thursday.

Ms Ali was driven to Islamabad immediately following her release and later flew to Karachi on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight.

The supermodel arrived at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in a white car and was escorted by another car. The two cars parked in the parking for business class and the supermodel swiftly made her way to the lounge to board PK-319 for Karachi, due to leave at 10 pm.

Ms Ali, however, will not be able to leave the country as her passport is still in the custody of customs officials and will not be returned until the completion of case proceedings.

Unlike other high profile under-trial prisoners, the supermodel did not exit Adiala Jail from the main gate on Thursday and instead used the Residential Colony gate. While Ms Ali had not made any request for special security arrangements, this plan had been made to avoid the cameras and reporters camped outside the main gate of the jail. Ms Ali’s brother Zulfiqar Ali had come to the jail to take his sister home.

During her stay in Adiala, Ms Ali had been assigned a single room of a barrack, specified for women under-trial prisoners (UTP). Three other female UTPs had been assigned the same barrack to provide her companionship and security. Ayyan Ali and her companions had been allowed to cook their own meals as the supermodel did not like eating the food served to other prisoners.

A jail official, requesting anonymity, had revealed that jail authorities feared for the supermodel’s life and were even concerned about her mental wellbeing, as she appeared distressed. “The other inmates had been assigned the same barracks to prevent her from feeling isolated,” he said.

Ms Ali had also been asked by jail authorities to not eat any edibles offered to her by other prisoners or visitors.

Another senior jail official told Dawn that Ms Ali had been a cooperative inmate during her time in the jail. “She had been advised by jail authorities to avoid talking to the press during her detention. Anyway, she is mature and understands how to handle the press,” he said.

A senior customs official, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that Ms Ali’s two passports, a blackberry and another mobile phone will remain with the customs authorities as case property and will only be returned once the case is complete.

He said that these items were confiscated by customs officials on March 14, at the time of her arrest. “Ms Ali is out on bail but the currency smuggling case against her is still in progress,” the official said.

The official said that neither Intelligence Bureau (IB) nor Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were unable to retrieve the date from her mobile phones, because the Sims she was using were purchased from a Dubai-based company.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2015

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