ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Monday called for shifting the cases against former president Asif Ali Zardari from Islamabad to Karachi.

A demand to this effect was made by Senator Kulsoom Parveen during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior. The demand was converted into a resolution by committee chairman Senator Rehman Malik that was passed by a majority vote.

Mr Malik said that the Senate committee on interior had taken a suo motu notice about the health of the former president and had urged the government to allow him to get medical treatment from his personal doctor.

He said on Nov 30, the committee was informed that his personal physician has been included in the medical board.

He said that all family members of Mr Zardari were residing in Karachi and there was no legal justification for his trial in any other city.

Senator Parveen said that Mr Zardari was not being treated like other people. She sought immediate transfer of his cases to Karachi.

The meeting chaired by Senator Rehman Malik was attended among others by Interior Secretary Yuosuf Nasim Khokhar, Nadra chairman Usman Yuosuf Mobeen and officials from the Bureau of Emigration (BoE), FIA, Nacta and CDA.

Stranded Pakistanis

While discussing actions taken so far with reference to 70 Pakistanis stranded in Iraq who went there through fake agents, Mr Malik said that he had taken notice of the issue and had directed FIA and the BoE to take action against fake overseas employment agents and those officers of the BoE who are involved in such criminal activities.

The committee also discussed stranded Pakistanis in Turkey which serves as a gateway for Europe.

The Committee was told that 3,700 Pakistanis were verified in Turkey after the issue was raised by the Senate Standing Committee on Interior.

The BoE informed the committee that 65 stranded Pakistanis in Iraq had been brought back to Pakistan in two batches after a video went viral on social media showing their plight. They were not provided employment and were kept in a room.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2019