IHC irked over govt’s failure to extradite Ibrahim Koko

Justice Kayani remarks international drug smuggler to be sent to PM's office if he is not deported

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday sought a progress report on the extradition of an international drug trafficker, Ibrahim Koko.

The court further directed the ministries of foreign affairs and interior to submit a written response on the matter in the next proceeding.

Koko, said to be an ethnic Rohingya, had been deported from Thailand to Pakistan after he was convicted in a drug smuggling case. He was issued a Pakistani passport by the country’s diplomatic mission in Thailand based on a fake domicile issued from Khushab. Currently interning at the Adiyala jail, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had ordered in 2017 to deport the suspect back to Thailand.

The court remarked that it had ordered the government to extradite Koko to Thailand and inquired why its orders have yet to be implemented.

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A representative of the foreign ministry, who appeared before the court, responded that the suspect was a stateless person, adding that neither Thailand nor Pakistan considered him to be a national of their country.

At this, the court further inquired that if this was the case, why has he been incarcerated in the Adiyala Jail for the past three years. Justice Kayani further remarked that officials of the Pakistani embassy in Thailand are involved in fraudulently getting Koko a Pakistani passport.

Irked at the non-implementation of its orders, the court stated that the suspect will be sent to the prime minister's office if he is not deported.

The court further remarked why such a person was brought to Pakistan who even the Thai government was refusing to receive. Justice Kayani warned the representatives of the interior and foreign ministries that they will be booked if the court’s orders regarding Koko’s deportation are not executed.