The accused has been arrested in Malaysia, under a murder case for which he has served his sentence. PHOTO: AFP
Rizwan Habib Alvi, whose alleged release before serving jail in home country led to the cancellation of a prisoners’ exchange treaty between the UK and Pakistan, was recently rearrested in Quito.
Alvi’s brother, Zeeshan Habib Alvi, approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday, seeking direction for the home and prison authorities to provide documents regarding his extradition and jail term in Karachi. He named the provincial home secretary, the IG prisons and the superintendent of Karachi central jail as respondents.
The petitioner said his brother was given 18 years in jail by the UK Criminal Court in February 2004 in a case of murder and deception of property.
“On the request of the federal government and after due process of law for extradition of the Pakistanis convicted abroad, the petitioner’s brother was shifted to Pakistan after serving some term in the UK prison,” Advocate Amir Mansoob Qureshi said.
He informed the two-judge bench that Rizwan Alvi was shifted to Karachi central jail during the period of September and October, 2009.
“While serving his term in the British jail, he had been trying incessantly to prove his innocence through UK ministers and organisations,” he claimed, adding that authorities told Alvi to complete the remaining term in his homeland.
Advocate Qureshi maintained that his client’s brother served the remaining sentence of six years in his homeland. Subsequently, he was released from the Karachi central jail between November and December in 2010 after the federal government awarded him due remissions according to the law, he added.
The court was informed that upon release, Alvi left for Malaysia and has been arrested in Ecuador, Quito, in relation to the above mentioned murder case for which he has served his sentence.
He alleged that the petitioner on different occasions requested the respondents to provide him certified copies of the documents including his trial abroad, term served in the UK jail, his extradition and the period he served out in the Pakistani jail, however they failed to provide the same.
Qureshi pleaded before the court to direct the home secretary, IG jails and prison superintendent to provide the certified copies of documents relating to Alvi’s trial, extradition and incarceration in Pakistan so that the same could be shown to the authorities in Ecuador to secure his release.
A division bench, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, issued notices to the respondents and AG Sindh to submit replies by April 9, 2015
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