Abduction of lawyers: SC seeks help from intelligence agencies

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to intelligence agencies seeking their assistance in identifying individuals responsible for abducting lawyers of the Rawalpindi Bar Association.    

The notices, issued to the Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau, come amid allegations by the lawyers accusing agencies of harassing members of the legal community.

The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, is hearing cases concerning the abduction and harassment of lawyers.

In its hearing, the apex court bench directed City Police Officer Rawalpindi Abdul Razzaq Cheema to submit a report on fresh incidents of harassment of lawyers Faisal Butt and Raheel Khan. Unknown people had tried to abduct Butt in the early hours of the morning on May 14 near Sadiqabad.

With lawyers complaining that vehicles with tinted glasses were used in abductions, Cheema told the court that as per the court’s earlier order 2,255 vehicles with tinted glasses had been penalised.

Appearing before the bench, Inspector General Punjab Aftab Sultan and Inspector General Islamabad Binyamin submitted standard operating procedures for the security of lawyers in the twin cities.

The police chiefs informed the court that eight threatened lawyers were being provided security details while police patrolling had been increased on routes frequented by the legal community.

Justice Khawaja asked police investigators to uncover the motive behind the abduction and harassment of lawyers. This he said would help identify the real culprits.

It is worth mentioning that as many as five lawyers have already been abducted and tortured. These include Basharatullah Khan, Mujeebur Rehman Kiani, Sardar Manzar Bashir.

Rawalpindi police, acting on information about the abductions, had earlier booked activists of former president Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) for the torture of the lawyers.

The apex court bench has directed the CPO to hold an inquiry against SP Rawal division, Haroon Joya for assisting in the escape of the accused in the abductions.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.