The commission expressed its discontent over Haqqani’s absence to record his statement. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ordered the interior secretary to finalise security arrangements for former envoy Husain Haqqani while hearing the Memogate case on Tuesday, reported Express News.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading an eight-member bench, ordered the interior secretary to report to the court after finalising the security arrangements. The bench also expressed displeasure over the secretary’s absence from the court during the hearing.
The secretary was also asked to talk to Haqqani regarding his arrival to Pakistan, his residence and his security concerns, and hold talks with the government and law enforcement agencies on the matter.
The hearing was adjourned till March 11.
Haqqani was implicated in a scandal in which he had a memo delivered to top US Admiral Mike Mullen offering greater cooperation against the Pakistan military in the aftermath of the Abbottabad raid on May 2, 2011. Haqqani denied any such involvement and resigned in protest.
During the last hearing of the case, Haqqani’s counsel Asma Jahangir submitted a letter to the interior ministry which said that her client was avoiding travel to Pakistan over security concerns which barred him from appearing in court.
In its short order, the court had asked the interior secretary to explain why the ministry had failed to ensure Haqqani’s safe return to Pakistan.
Letter to interior secretary
Haqqani also sent a letter to the interior secretary through his counsel, questioning the interior ministry about his security arrangements.
Haqqani, in a copy of the letter received by The Express Tribune, stated, “A number of self-appointed guardians of Pakistan’s integrity and ideology have targeted me and routinely send me threatening messages by email, twitter and on phone.”
He added that the authorities in the US have also repeatedly investigated the threats he was receiving. But “has the [interior] ministry investigated these threats or contacted US authorities in relation to these threats?” he questioned.
The former envoy also maintained that he has not been charged or tried in the Memogate case, but a general impression has been created that he has been found guilty of some crime which makes him a “a very likely target of hyper-nationalist vigilantes of which many are currently active all over Pakistan including within the security services”.
“Have any investigations been conducted to ensure that such vigilantes would not pose a threat to me if and when I come to Pakistan?” he further questioned.
Read the complete letter here.
COMMENTS (9)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
On day one SC should have thrown out of its premises this so called memogate case. One wonders what results our present Aaazaad Adlia wants to achieve out of this senseless case? It is better for HH to stay away from our Wild Goose.
Can you really blame Husain Haqqani for being concerned about his safety in Pakistan. When in doubt go ask Dr. Afridi what happens to those who are accused of helping American's - you know the guy who was put on trial without a lawyer and tossed in prison for 30 years. To top it off the SC won't even allow him to give testimony in the same manner as his accuser - anecdotal evidence that the judicial system isn't fair/objective and the deck is stacked against him.
in a democracy how can the Interior Secretary organize ' more' security for Mr Haqqani and ' less' for the common man in Karachi? So Mr Haqqani will get exactly the same level of security as the man in Karachi.:) Khuda Haafiz.
SC JUST Wasting time and public money on sham cases. . . . ???
Supreme court is wasting precious time and money by indulging in political cases and with zero results.
The supreme court was restored after months of strikes, sit ins and long marches, taking the whole nation for a ride. Now can somebody guide me on the contributions of the same restored courts towards national building and taking any case of national importance to its logical end. such cases are, the Swiss bank case, RPP case, Chairman OGRA case, karachi and Quetta law & order case, energy crises case, Arsalan_ malik Riaz case, just to name a few. If the government is blamed for not delivering then what about the supreme court?
Our Supreme court has alot of time left for these shabby cases Murderers should wait
After the Swiss letter balloon has popped and the arrest order of elected PM failed the Memo is the only hope for the full large bench of SC to keep the govt under suspicions especially on the eve of elections. Through the full tenure of the elected govt the SC kept the pressure and keep them busy so they have no record of their performance during their tenure. Everybody knows just like the Swiss letter that HH is in the US and only a fool would come back to face a hostile SC. How much more is going to be wasted on these cases? Are there no other cases like appeals against death sentences, constitutional petitions, etc., for hearing or just the political cases?