DPM Dar says that Dr. Aafia’s reference was “taken from context”

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, clarified that his recent comments about Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, made during a question and answers session in the group of experts from the Atlantic Council in Washington, were “out of context.”

Dar, which is currently on an official visit to the United States, went to the United Nations General Assembly in New York before traveling to Washington, where he spoke in a session organized by the group of experts of the Atlantic Council.

During the event, he was asked about the imprisonment of former Prime Minister and founder of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan. In response, he made a comparison with the case of Dr. Aafia, saying that the matter was under judicial process and beyond the interference of any individual, including himself.

Read more: PM Shehbaz reaffirms continuous support for Dr. Aafia’s family

“What happened on May 9 … Unfortunately, a man like me cannot even do anything. Due process of the law has to take place, and is in progress. So I think we should not politicize anything at this stage,” Dar said.

He added: “For example, if I say that Aafia Siddiqui is here for decades and it will be, God knows, until … I think it would be unfair. A due process of law has resulted in that action. The same applies to all. There is no exception.”

Then he said that being a popular political leader does not grant the right to take arms, cause disturbances or attack state institutions. “This is nothing more than betrayal,” he said. “The due law process will take its own course. It is the judiciary that manages the matter … and, like any democratic country, we barely have the right to interfere with the judicial system.”

After his comments, the statement caused generalized criticisms on social networks, which led the Deputy Prime Minister to issue a clarification.

In a publication on the social media platform X (previously Twitter), Senator Dar declared that his reference to Dr. Aafia was misunderstood and misrepresented in relation to the question about the legal situation of Imran Khan.

The Foreign Minister reaffirmed that the successive governments of PML-N had constantly provided diplomatic and legal support for the efforts to ensure the release of Dr. Aafia, and would continue to do so until the matter is resolved.

“Each country has its own legal and judicial systems that must be respected, whether Pakistan or the United States,” he said.

In addition, he stressed that the government’s position on the case of Dr. Aafia remains “firm and unequivocal.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Aafia’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, also criticized the comments of the Vice Prime Minister, accusing him of undermining the case.

In a publication about X, Smith wrote: “Sorry, but this is idiot! ‘The due process’ is not equal to something where Aafia had no witnesses, they lied, and everything was false. That is called a spontaneous abortion of justice, not what is ‘due'”.

He added: “The DPM seemed to be doing everything possible to undermine the case of Aafia yesterday acting as if it had ‘due process’ when everything you received was torture and a trial in New York, when all the royal witnesses were in Afghanistan. I hope you have reminded you of what side it is today.”

Dr. Aafia, a Pakistani neuroscientist currently imprisoned in the United States, was sentenced to 86 years in prison for charges of murder attempt, a sentence that significantly exceeds the legal maximum of the United States of 10 years for the crime.

He has turned 16 after bars and has been separated from his sons for more than two decades.

According to the reports, Dr. Aafia was intercepted in Karachi in March 2003 while traveling with his three children and subsequently disappeared for five years. Later it was revealed in 2008 that it had been imprisoned in Afghanistan before being transferred to the United States.

While two of their children, Ahmed and Maryam, were released in 2008 and 2010 respectively, the whereabouts of their son Sulaiman is still unknown.