Handed over for bounty: Apex court to look into Musharraf’s book claims

Asks to present excerpts from his book about handing over of people to foreign powers.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would like to probe the fate of hundreds of Pakistanis who were caught and handed over to foreign powers for bounty after the September 11 attacks in the United States, as claimed by former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf in his 2006 book In the Line of Fire.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, directed Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar to file excerpts from Musharraf’s book which alluded to the handing over of Pakistanis to foreign powers in exchange for bounty.

During the hearing, the court observed that apparently, there are two editions of former army chief’s book. “If I recall correctly, the first edition of the book had a mention in this regard,” Justice Jawwad remarked, adding that the bench would examine who were these people and to whom they were handed over.

A senior law officer told The Express Tribune it could have serious implications for Musharraf, if handing over of citizens to any foreign country could be proved through the book.

“Human rights organisations are alleging that approximately more than 4,000 people went missing in the country after the 9/11 incident and Musharraf could be tried for handing over these people,” he said.

ISI’s affidavit

On the basis of former ISI DG (internal) Major General Nusrat Naeem’s affidavit, submitted before the Inquiry Commission on missing persons on June 13, 2011, the Punjab police submitted before the apex court that al Qaeda had killed Masood Janjua and Faisal Faraz in 2005.

Appearing before the bench, Punjab Additional Advocate General Razaq A Mirza read out Nusrat Naeem’s affidavit, which claimed that al Qaeda had ruthlessly killed both Janjua and Faraz and buried them, on suspicion of espionage.

The bench, however, rejected the Punjab police’s conclusion regarding the death of both missing persons and observed that the investigation reeked of “defects, lapses and omissions”. It further noted that the statement of former military officer was self-contradictory and the bench might once again cross examine him.

The hearing of the case is adjourned till February 20.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2014.