Notices issued: Aafia’s sister wants to meet her

Court directs PM, others to submit comments within 10 days

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Friday issued notices and sought replies from key government officials on a petition seeking court’s directions for the prime minister to discuss Dr Aafia Siddiqui with the US president during his upcoming tour of the US.

Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi issued notices to Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, Adviser to the PM on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to the PM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, the principal secretary to the PM, and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

The court directed the officials to submit comments within 10 days.

The court issued directions in response to a petition filed by Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, a biological sister of Aafia – a Pakistani who was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a US court for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan.

In the petition, Fowzia through her counsel stated that she was denied access to meet her sister and only periodic phone calls were permitted with gaps of as long as a year. A number of requests were to the government, however, all of them were effectively ignored and neither meaningful reply nor any verifiable information was provided, she added.

Her counsel argued that PM Nawaz Sharif had written a letter to former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asking him to take steps for the release of Aafia, when he was not in power.

The petitioner prayed the court to direct respondents to provide an update on her current status, and her mental and physical health.

Apart from seeking independent confirmation if Aafia was still alive and well, she requested the court to direct the respondents to compile a competent independent medical team with the petitioner to examine her mental and physical health.

She also urged the court to direct the respondents to provide the petitioner and her family with full cooperation, safety and assistance in obtaining visas to the US so they may visit Aafia in prison.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2015.