Court orders: FIA to look into US citizen’s illegal stay

Seith David was brought to court in handcuffs.

SUKKUR:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was ordered by a civil court on Monday to look into the case of the US citizen, who was staying illegally in Sindh.

Seith David, who was working for NGO Christian Relief Fund, was arrested by Abad police on Saturday, said the police. David’s visa expired on April 9 this year but he continued to live in Sukkur. The police have registered a case, No. 82/2011, against him under Section 14 of the Foreign Act on the complaint of Sukkur foreign security cell’s ASI Abdul Jabbar Shaikh, said Assistant Head Constable Mashooq Ali.

On Monday, he was brought in handcuffs to the court of first civil judge and judicial magistrate, Sukkur, Ghous Ali Shah, by the investigation police. David’s lawyer, Nizamuddin Baloch, later told The Express Tribune that the judge ordered the police to take off the handcuffs because he was not a suspected terrorist.

Questioning the jurisdiction of the police in this case, the judge transferred the case to the FIA for further investigation. The media was not allowed to talk to David, whose face was covered.

The Abad police raided house No. 71 in Sindhi Society on Airport Road and arrested David on Saturday. He was kept in Abad police station until the court hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2011.