Dr Aafia case
ISLAMABAD
Islamabad High Court (IHC) has asked the government to file a written reply to two declarations and an open letter that were filed before the court. As per details, a single bench of Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaque Khan heard the constitutional petition of Dr Fowzia Siddiqui.
Imran Shafique, advocate for the petitioner appeared before the court in person with petitioner (via video link). Clive A. Stafford Smith appeared through a video link. Zainab Janjua, Amicus, Barrister Munawar Iqbal Duggal, Additional Attorney General, Abdul Khaliq Thind, DAG and Yasir Arfat Abbasi, AAG Muhammad Hamza, Assistant Director-US, MoFA also appeared before the court.
The court in its order said: Mr Smith has filed the latest declaration dated 30.1.2025.
The CM also attaches a declaration of Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, and an open letter to the government of Pakistan, titled ‘Bring Dr Aafia Siddiqui home – You have forsaken your daughter, it is time to correct betrayal’, by Dr Omar Suleiman a highly respected Imam in Dallas Fort Worth, which to are to be replied by the government.
The judge wrote: “I can’t but resist reproducing the following passage in Dr Omar Suleiman’s open letter which reads as follows: “Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark has described the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui as the worst case of individual injustice he had ever seen. And after everything she has endured – kidnapping, imprisonment, torture- Aafia has been described as the most wronged woman on the planet.”
The court order continued: Further, it is also quite obvious from Mr. Smith’s declaration that Mr. Hamza, who though has been very proactive in his support for the case, is not high up enough in the chain of command in MoFA. In the previous orders, this Court had passed the directions for senior officers of MoFA to participate in the proceedings but they have dropped away.
From now onwards, the Additional Secretary (Americas) will participate in each and every hearing. If he seeks exemption from personal appearance on any particular date, he would have to file an application in advance.
“Learned AAG is directed to file a written reply to the two declarations and the open letter referred above two working days before the next date of hearing. The case was relisted on 21.02.2025 for 10:30 am.
