Interior ministry told to help Azeri woman go home

Victim of human trafficking, she was rescued in a raid on a den

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed Interior Ministry to issue No Objection Certificate (NOC) within seven days for sending an Azerbaijani woman back home to her country.

IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, hearing the case, directed the ministry to complete the arrangements for repatriation of the Azeri citizen, Jameela, who was a victim of human trafficking. Justice Kayani also directed the authorities to hand over her to the Embassy of Azerbaijan.

A representative of Edhi Foundation informed the court that his institution was ready to bear the airfare and travelling expenses of Jameela to send her back to Azerbaijan. An Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officer informed the court that she had reached Pakistan in 2011 and the human traffickers had taken her documents so that she might not escape their clutches.

“The victim was sold into prostitution and was rescued during a raid,” he said. Justice Kayani remarked that it was the responsibility of the state to protect the rights of every citizen. The court observed that only the NOC of interior ministry was currently a hurdle in way of the woman’s repatriation.

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The bench instructed the ministry to issue NOC within seven days and submit report to the court. International drug don Meanwhile, Justice Kayani, while hearing the case of international drug smuggler Ibrahim Koko imprisoned at Adiala Jail, observed that the Interior Ministry was committing contempt of court by not sending Koko back to Thailand as per IHC orders.

He gave the ministry a week’s time to comply with the orders to send Koko to Thailand to serve the remaining sentence of 35 years in his home country. According to officials, Koko is an Arakan Muslim from Myanmar, who has Thai nationality. However, Thaliand has refused to accept Koko as his and so has Myanmar.

During the Friday’s hearing, the court noted that Koko has been in jail for three-anda-half years and the court orders to send him to Thailand to serve his sentence there are not being complied with. “If no decision is taken till the next hearing, the interior secretary will be summoned,” Justice Kayani said. He remarked that Koko would be summoned from jail and sent with interior secretary and he may take him wherever he wants.

Koko will no longer be in a Pakistani prison. An FIA official said they were ready to extradite Koko, but documentation was the biggest hurdle. Justice Kayani said that even the Thais do not consider Koko as their citizen, “there are many people in our country who make forged documents, do one thing, get a Pakistani identity card issued to Ibrahim Koko so that he can sell heroin here.” Justice Kayani said that the Foreign Office officer dealing with Thailand should appear in court. The court adjourned the hearing with the above directions.