Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday to Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui that the Government would continue to provide all possible legal and diplomatic support in her sister’s issue, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientific that attends a prison sentence in the United States, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
On Wednesday, the Office of the Registrar of the Superior Court of Islamabad (IHC) suspended the prosecution of contempt notices to the court issued to Prime Minister Shehbaz and its members of the Cabinet when the treatment personnel decided to determine their validity first.
IHC judge, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq, on July 21 had issued a contempt notice to the federal government, including prime minister and all ministers, for refusing to present an Amicus report to support the case of Dr. Aafia in the United States.
“The government is no way not negligent about the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui,” the prime minister was summoned as he said Application In a meeting today with Dr. Fouzia.
On the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz, the Government has previously provided diplomatic and legal assistance in the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office.
“In addition, the prime minister not only wrote a letter to the then US president Joe Biden regarding this issue, but also formed a committee headed by the Federal Minister of Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar to guarantee greater progress in the matter,” the statement added.
“The Committee will remain in contact with Dr. Fouzia and will work to provide the necessary support in this regard.”
Dr. Aafia, neuroscientist and educator, was convicted of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for positions of attempted murder of US personnel in Afghanistan and has been fulfilling its sentence at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in the USA since 2010.
On July 12, the IHC expressed dissatisfaction with the failure of the federal government to present a report in the case on the release, health and repatriation of Dr. Aafia, with Judge Ishaq threatening to “convene the entire cabinet” if the report did not appear.
In February, the IHC was told that the proposal to exchange Shakil Afridi for Dr. Aafia was unfeasible.
The law officer that represented the Federal Government informed the court that Dr. Aafia’s American lawyer, Clive Smith, had suggested the exchange, but Pakistan and the United States had no agreement for such exchange.
Last year, in October, Prime Minister Shehbaz had requested that Biden Pardon and free Dr. Aafia from prison.
In a letter dated October 13, which has been seen by Dawn.comThe prime minister expressed concern about the “fragile mental and fragile physical health of Dr. Aafia while in prison.” Now, 52, she has turned 16 after bars in the United States.
“Numerous Pakistani officials have made consular visits to Dr. Siddiqui … All of them have expressed their serious concerns about the treatment he has received,” said the letter. “In fact, they fear that she can take her life.”
Consequently, the United States Department of State declined to comment on the letter written by Prime Minister Shehbaz to the Biden Administration.
When a journalist asked about the letter, spokesman Vedant Patel had declared: “Certainly, we would not go into private diplomatic communications,” apparently confirming the reception of correspondence.
