PESHAWAR: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench on Friday granted bail to an expatriate Pakistani arrested on the charge of financing and facilitating smuggling of narcotics.

Justice Yahya Afridi accepted the bail plea of suspect Abdul Ghani Afridi asking him to furnish two surety bonds of Rs1 million each.

According to the prosecution, the Anti-Narcotics Force seized seven kilogrammes heroin concealed in beds booked for Australia on Sept 22, 2011, and arrested customs clearing agent Gul Anwar, who insisted the goods were booked by Mohammad Shafiq and Mohammad Rafi.

On arrest by the ANF, Mohammad Shafiq named Abdul Ghani Afridi, who worked in Spain, as the financier of the consignment claiming the latter used to facilitate the trafficking of narcotics abroad from Pakistan.

Special judge (control of narcotics) later acquitted Gul Anwar but convicted Mohammad Shafiq and sentenced him to four years rigorous imprisonment.

The court also declared Ghani Afridi a proclaimed offender.

Noor Alam Khan, lawyer for the petitioner, said his client had been working in Spain for many years and was falsely implicated in the case.

He said his client returned on June 5, 2016, and filed a pre-arrest bail petition with the special court after learning about being declared a proclaimed offender.

The lawyer however said the plea was rejected by the court prompting his arrest by the ANF.

He said the statement of convict Mohammad Shafiq was not a judicial confession.

“That statement could be recorded only in the joint trial of the accused and that it can’t be separately used against the petitioner,” he said.

The lawyer said during trial, Mohammad Shafiq had retracted from the said statement claiming it was recorded under coercion.

He also presented several certificates of appreciation given to his client by some Spanish authorities for excellent work.

The lawyer said there was no evidence on record against his client in the case except the convict’s controversial statement.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2016