LAHORE, March 31: The State has brought espionage charges against Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja and Ahmad Naveed Khwaja, who, after the lapse of their three-month detention, have once again been detained for two months on Saturday.

The State has brought new charges against the two brothers in the fresh detention order after the Supreme Court’s ruling that Al Qaeda was not a declared “terrorist” organization under the 1973 Constitution or any anti-terrorism law of the country.

Earlier, they were charged with having “indulged in anti-state activities on behalf of a foreign organization” and detained initially for three months.

Their fresh detention order reads: “Federal government is satisfied that you have been involved in espionage activities in Pakistan on behalf of a foreign country and, thus, your activities have been prejudicial to the security of Pakistan”.

The detention order was released to the Khwajas’ counsel on Monday by the Kot Lakhpat Jail authorities.

The two Khwajas were detained on Dec 30, 2002, with three other family members for three months on allegations of harbouring Al Qaeda activists in their house in the Manawan area. However, the other three — Dr Umar Karar, Dr Khizar Ali and Muhammad Usman — were ordered to be released by the Lahore High Court on Feb 17.

The new two-month detention order has been passed by the interior ministry under section 3(1)(b) of the Security of Pakistan Act, 1952 — the same section which was used for their earlier detention.

The State has acknowledged in the latest detention order the detainees’ right to file representation before the authorities concerned against their fresh detention.

Their counsel, Pervez Inayat Malik, claimed that the nature of the charges levelled in both orders was the same and the State had used just “jugglary of words” to pass another detention order.

The addition of the phrase “indulgence in espionage activities” had been used in order to avoid direct collision with the SC judgment ruling that Al Qaeda was not a declared terrorist origanization in Pakistan, he alleged.

According to the counsel, the State had tried to pose in the fresh detention order that it had discovered certain new anti- state activities by the detainees in order to provide a “sham” legal cover to their further detention. “Had this been the case, the State would have produced the fresh incriminating material before the review board during the previous three-month detention,” he remarked.

Mr Malik said that the appeal against the new detention order would be filed after consultation with the Khawajas’ senior counsel who is currently out of the country. A full bench of the SC is scheduled to take up the Khwajas’ appeal on April 3, against the LHC’s verdict regarding their earlier detention.