Pakistan

Family of death-row convict protest on The Mall

The protesters chanted slogans against the federal government for failing to protect a citizen

Our Correspondent July 29, 2016

The group, including foreigners from Pakistan and India have been placed in isolation on a prison island. PHOTO: GUARDIAN

LAHORE: Dozens of relatives and friends of Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistani on death row in Indonesia, staged a demonstration in front of the Provincial Assembly on Thursday.

Carrying a latest picture of Ali in which he could be seen in an ambulance, the protesters chanted slogans against the judicial system in Indonesia. They also chanted slogans against the federal government for failing to protect a citizen.

Syed Iqrar Hussain Shah, one of Ali’s uncles, said his nephew was a brother to six sisters and ran a clothing business to feed his family.

“In 2004, he went to Indonesia on a business trip,” he said. He said his nephew had been staying with a Nigerian and an Indian friend at their apartment when Indonesian police raided the house and arrested Gurdip Singh, the Indian national, and recovered 300 grams heroin from him. Singh accused Ali and police arrested him for drug dealing.”

Shah said that his nephew was innocent and had nothing to do with drug trade.

“In 2005, he was convicted and sentenced to death by an Indonesian court,” he said.

Syed Waseem Ashfaq, a cousin, said their family had found out about his arrest a year later, when his friend Professor Sheikh Farooq Shafiq brought them a news item about him.

He said the family had visited the Indonesian Embassy in Islamabad and pleaded their case. He said they had also met former foreign minister Khursheed Ahmad Kasuri and sought his help but to no end.

He said Ali’s father had died of a heart attack a year after learning about his son’s incarceration in a foreign land. “Zulfiqar was innocent. There was no evidence of his involvement in the case. He is on the verge of death due to a flawed judicial system in Indonesia,” he said.

Waseem said an inquiry by an Indonesian government official had exonerated Ali of the charges. He said Dr Hafiz Abbas, in his report, had stated that the charges against Ali were baseless.

He said Singh, on whose statement Ali, was arrested had written in a letter that he had implicated Ali under pressure by Indonesian police. Waseem said the Nigerian girl and Singh had been released due to successful diplomatic efforts from their countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2016.