Illegal detention: IHC orders defence ministry to produce Syrian student in two days

Yoman Ismail, a student was taken into custody for overstaying in the country.

ISLAMABAD:

A capital court, on Monday, directed the defence ministry to produce a Syrian student detained by secret agencies since two years in two days.

Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui passed the order while hearing a case against the detention of Yoman Ismail, a Syrian student, who has been in the custody of security agencies for the last two years.

Bilal al-Sameer, Ismail’s friend had filed a petition last year challenging his illegal detention. He said Ismail went missing in 2010, while in July 2012, the Arab Desk of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the court that he was picked up by security agencies for overstaying in the country. He informed the court that Ismail was a student of LLM at the International Islamic University.

During the course of hearing, al-Sameer’s counsel Jahangir Wains informed the court that the IHC chief justice had restrained the government from deporting Ismail to his native country last December. Commander Shahbaz, on behalf of the defense ministry, requested the court to give him time to produce Ismail before the court. The case was adjourned for Wednesday.

Bara Kahu SHO summoned Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi summoned Bara Kahu Station House Officer (SHO) Mehboob Ahmed in response to a petition filed by a headmistress of government school Barakahu for not registering a criminal case against three suspects involved in water theft.

Headmistress of Federal Government Middle Girls School (Mandla) Bara Kahu , Atiya Durdana filed a petition for registring a criminal case against SHO Bara Kahu as well as Ahmed Jan, Rizwan Ahmed and Jibran Ahmed, for stealing water from her school.

Her counsel Wasif Ahmed maintained that the suspects had damaged the water pipeline of his client’s school and were stealing water for domestic use, but the police had refused to register an FIR against them. He said that they were influential people and they had threatened to kill his client when she protested against the water theft.

The case was adjourned and the next date is to fixed by the registrar’s office.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2013.