Dr Aafia’s Case Can Be Taken to ICJ, Says Lawyer
ISLAMABAD: The case of a Pakistani neuroscientist, Aafia Siddiqui, can be taken to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Pak-US Treaty of Friendship and Commerce signed in 1959, as the government has failed to secure her repatriation diplomatically, says her counsel Barrister Iqbal Jafree.
Barrister Jafree said that a deputy attorney general stated in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the government had transferred $01 million to the US for Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s lawyers but the names of lawyers were never disclosed. He said that a further $0.4 million were transferred to the US by the Government of Pakistan in this regard.
He said it was unfortunate that the Pakistani government had failed to get Dr Aafia repatriated to Pakistan but the case could be shifted to the ICJ if Pakistan was willing. “I am going to file a writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the repatriation,” said the old lawyer. “I don’t know why the government is not taking the matter seriously.”
He said that one simple application from the government could bring the case of Dr Aafia siddiqui to the ICJ, where there would be independent judges. He claimed that Aafia’s crime was only that she had once written a letter that there should be Islam all over the US.
SOURCE: The News.com.pk
