ISLAMABAD:
The capital’s High Court has ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to ask the US ambassador to Pakistan the reasons why the US president did not consider it necessary to respond to a letter from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif seeking clemency. for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
In an order issued on Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) noted that during the hearing of a petition filed by Dr Aafia’s sister Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, the Ministry of External Affairs told the court that the government did not had received response to Prime Minister Shehbaz’s letter sent to US President Joe Biden regarding Dr Aafia.
The MoFA also stated that the Pakistani Embassy in Washington also sent a reminder of the letter, but apparently no response has been given to that reminder either. The court noted that this is quite unusual, given diplomatic norms.
While ordering the ministry to submit a copy of that reminder, the court ordered it to ensure that the US ambassador, permanent or acting, to Pakistan is contacted to investigate why the White House did not “deem it fit and proper “. ” to respond to the Prime Minister’s letter in apparent disregard of diplomatic norms.
“[MoFA must] Please ensure that contact with the US Ambassador is made no later than tomorrow at the close of business. [Wednesday]. In its response, the MoFA will also add a section regarding compliance with this order and the response of the US ambassador in this regard,” he added. The single-member bench of the IHC, comprising Justice Ejaz Ishaq Khan, will resume the hearing of the case on January 24.
In October last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to US President Biden seeking the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who has been imprisoned in the US for about two decades.
In the letter, Prime Minister Shehbaz urged President Biden to use his constitutional authority to grant her a pardon and order her release on humanitarian grounds, adding that Dr. Aafia’s family, along with millions of Pakistanis, were waiting for this act of kindness. .
The Prime Minister noted that over the years, Pakistani officials have held consular meetings with Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, during which serious concerns have been raised about her medical treatment.
There are significant concerns about his deteriorating physical and mental health, and concerns have been raised that he may take his own life. Dr Aafia’s case should be viewed with compassion, he said.
Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, became a polarizing figure after her arrest in 2008 in Afghanistan. She was accused of attempting to shoot US military personnel while in custody.
She was later extradited to the United States. In 2010, a US federal court convicted her of attempted murder and assault and sentenced her to 86 years in prison.
