- RSS
- Today's Paper
- Subscribe
- beta 2.1
Alerts
Mansoor Ijaz testimony: Haqqani's lawyer receives UK visa 'too late'
Zahid Bukhari says it will be impossible to accompany judicial commission panel in London.
Zahid Bukhari says it will be impossible to accompany judicial commission panel to London to record Ijaz's statement. PHOTO: ONLINE/ FILE
ISLAMABAD: Despite receiving his UK visa on Tuesday, Zahid Bukhari, counsel of former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani, will not be able to join the judicial commission panel in London during Mansoor Ijaz’s testimony.
According to Bukhari, the call to collect his visa came so late that it was impossible for him to reach London at the time of recording of Ijaz’s statements. Bukhari, who expressed his desire of being personally present during the recording, said that the British High Commission asked him to collect his visa at 2pm today, which is exactly 24-hours away from the statement being recorded.
Ijaz’s statements will be recorded at the Pakistan High Commission at 2pm (PST) on February 22 (Wednesday).
The lawyer also said that he will put forward his complaint before the judicial commission in tomorrow’s hearing.
Ijaz was summoned several times by the judicial commission probing the Memogate scandal, but the Pakistani-American businessman refused to come to Pakistan over security concerns. A judicial panel was formed to record his statements in London, while the bench will monitor the statements and cross-question him via video link in Islamabad.
Petitioner Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Rasheed A Rizvi will be accompanying secretary of judicial commission Raja Jawad Abbas in London.
Read more:
memogate
Reader Comments (18)
Pakistan Latest Stories
'Blasphemous newspaper': Court denies bail to Ahmadi distributors
Two other alleged accomplices were granted bail.
PML-N leader’s party membership suspended over bus hostess slap incident
PML-N leadership demanded answers within three days, while CM Punjab ordered inquiry into the matter.
Cylinder blast in Gujranwala plaza injures seven
Injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Imran Farooq murder: Scotland Yard officers raid more houses in London
The police had raided two houses in the same area on June 18.
Protesting killings: MQM MNAs walk out of National Assembly session
The MQM MNAs returned to the house after registering the protest.
Jiah Khan's letter will be sent to handwriting expert: Police
Sooraj was arrested June 10 in connection with the suicide of actor Jiah Khan.
Imran urges action against drones as he becomes MNA
Imran had missed the official oath-taking ceremony on June 1 on grounds of ill health.
New businesses: Two arrested for issuing false fitness certificates
Fake OGRA regional office busted.
Save the children: Two more lives lost to measles in Faisalabad
Death toll since January in the district reaches 48.
Recent Slideshows
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or derived from.
Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyrighted © 2013 The Express Tribune News Network.
Technical feedback? [email protected]
What exactly will be the basis of his complaint? Is the Britishh High Commision under the court’s jurisdiction? This man is such a whinger!!!
Recommend
So whats the issue, 24 hrs is more then enough time to reach London from Pakistan.
Recommend
@vaqar:
The basis is that they’re excluding the legal counsel of one of those involved. They’re usually considered to have the right to be there. I don’t know or really care if the delay was intentional or bad luck. However, it can even lead to the validity of the testimony being questioned. The accuser has a large advantage if the defense’s legal counsel is not present. They can’t say for certain they have the exact same information/evidence to build their defense upon. It’s almost begging for a conspiracy claim.
Recommend
He can even leave now in few hours and make it! Liar! I travel often and it’s only 7 hours away. It’s 5 hours back in London so time is not a problem! Recommend
Conspiracy !!!
Now England is also part of the Memogate conspiracy. They deliberately delayed the visa.
Recommend
@Waqar,
High Commission in London is under jurisdiction of SC, as it is part of Pakistan territory. Evidence recorded in absence of Haqqani’s lawyers would be useless.
Recommend
… as a top class lawyer, how could he have allowed his visa management to let him down? The whiner has no excuse, he should have known how long it takes to het visas and ought to have pointed it out upfront when the hearing dates were being set! Also, it is quite practical in such cases to have a local lawyer represent / stand in for him …
Recommend
@Usman and @Zak
It surely is a less than eight hours travel but given there is a flight/seat available. Or do you mean that he should charter a plane to reach London? I ‘travel often’ too and know that airlines don’t schedule their flights according to my plans/needs :)
Recommend
Vaqar, you are right. What is the need for him to interrogate MI when his client HH has already left the country NEVER to return ?Recommend
@MarkH
Utter nonsense. Bokhari is trying to imply it’s a conspiracy, that the visa was delayed. As for cross examination – if the court can hear the witness on video link, I am sure Bokhari can cross examine on video link as well.
Recommend
The SC should determine whether his statements are accurate and that he did in fact apply for a visa on a timely basis — if so – then the proceedings should be delayed. If it is determined the attorney dragged his feet then he should be disbarred and the proceedings should continue on as planned. Lastly — the SC likes to micromanage things but it’s apparent they don’t do a very good job at it — someone should have been monitoring whether this process was finally moving ahead as scheduled.
Recommend
Please leave this issue aside, The courts and military should have spend this time on other serious issues
Recommend
@Difa e Pakistan.
read my post again .what I said balls back the british high commission is not under the cor
Urt jirisdiction to issue visas on request. I was not mentioning Pakistan High Commission in UK.
Recommend
JuSt checked 9 seats still available to London! There you go seats are available, times are available! he was trying to be cunning. He would have made it! If it was his visit of personal importance I cam assure you the government would have got his visa in 3 days max! Please try and understand if the government requests for a visa at an emergency level it is given!
I can’t believe that people are happy with metric the trial just go! It is such an important issue!
Recommend
Punjabi Army, Mullahs and Judiciary won’t let this country become a National Welfare state. I wish Memogate came into affect to control this scared cow has destroyed Pakistan and we might see another disintegration of this federation if Punjab keeps on going with National Security State concept.Recommend
@Elhaan Khan.
Don’t be an idiot and create divisions. We are all one nation. Thank God for the Judiciary otherwise the country would already have been sold.
Recommend
@Usman: “So whats the issue, 24 hrs is more then enough time to reach London from Pakistan”
Not sure if he owns any chartered flights. Otherwise, there may not be a flight from Pakistan that he is able to take which would allow him to reach timely.
@vaqar : “What exactly will be the basis of his complaint? Is the Britishh High Commision under the court’s jurisdiction?”
No the basis of the complaint can be that the commission hearing that were postponed so many times to accomodate Ijaz, could not be postponed even once to accommodate Haqqani’s lawyer. It is a legitimate expectation of Haqqani to have his lawyer preent when testimony against him is given and also get a chance to cross-examine. He has been denied tha oportunity by this ‘azaad’ adlia.
Recommend
Defense counsel, in every criminal case has right to cross examination.
any lawyer, has been appointed on behalf of accused, has legal and constitutional right to put question to complainant and witnesses at the time of testimony. As the news relating to the memo gate reveal that Zahid Bukhari defense counsel of Hussain Haqqani not granted permission to cross examine the testimony of star witness in the case. Legal requirement must be fulfilled, it is indispensable for justice. Memo commission is giving a strong element of biasness towards Hussain Haqqani. This is not fair at all.Recommend