ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday was approached with a request for directions to the federal government to chalk out a framework to provide legal assistance to Pakistani inmates detained in prisons abroad.

The president of the Welfare Society for Overseas Pak­istani Rights, Muhammad Dawood, and Sakina Bibi, the mother of a prisoner detained in Thailand, filed a petition requesting the court for directions in this regard.

According to the petition, there were several Pakistani inmates languishing in prisons in Thailand and other countries in subhuman conditions. The petition argued that the inmates were dep­ri­ved of the right to fair trial, while the government of Pak­istan did not provide them even basic legal assistance.

It stated that the number of Pakistanis incarcerated abroad ran into thousands, especially those detained in Middle Eastern prisons, and regretted that they were living in deplorable conditions due to the non-cooperation of the Pakistani missions.

It said this infringed on the rights of thousands of Pakistani nationals. The petition named the secretaries of law, foreign office, interior ministry, min­istry of overseas Pakis­tanis and National Assembly as respondents in the petition.

When Sakina Bibi’s son Dildar Hussain was detained by the Thai authorities, the petition regretted, he was not given assistance or help by the Pakistani consulate. During his trial under Thailand’s judicial system, Hussain was alleged to have faced several judicial irregularities which had deprived him of his right to fair trial.

It added that Hussain had ended up issuing a confession statement due to the language barrier. The petition added that Hussain had approached Pak­istani autho­rities several times seeking basic assistance in translating the language but was not offered any.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2017