UK home secretary to raise Fahad murder case with Pakistan

LONDON: British Home Secretary Amber Ruud has said that UK government will raise the issue of British national Fahad Malik’s murder case with her counterpart, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

During the meeting of Home Affairs Select Committee in British Parliament, the home secretary answered questions asked by the committee members and said that during her conversation with the Pakistani opposite number, she often raises individual cases and there is need to work more closely.

Naz Shah MP, Labour Parliamentarian from Bradford West, has told the home secretary that two British nationals Barrister Fahad Malik was killed in Pakistan in September 2016 and in the same month Samia Shahid was also honour-killed, but the trial of these high-profile cases has not yet started. The home secretary replied she will raise the matter with the interior minister to ensure that justice is given to the British families and that “I will continue to raise that.”

When asked by Naz Shah MP to explain why Scotland Yard has taken nearly two years to investigate the hate speeches made by Altaf Hussain from British soil, the home secretary said that the UK has follow a “clear legal process” which is required in any case. She added that the issue of Altaf Hussain’s hate-speech is “often raised with me by my Pakistani opposite number, and I will continue to assist where we can.”

After the hearing, Naz Shah MP said that the murder trial of British-Pakistani Fahad Sohrab Malik has still not started, nearly two years on from his gruesome murder in Islamabad, and the same is the case with British national Samia Shahid.

Naz Shah Mp said that the home secretary has assured her that she will make Fahad Malik’s murder issue a test case and will ensure that his family as well as others who are seeking justice abroad get justice on speedy basis. She said that the home secretary will be writing to Ahsan Iqbal and the Supreme Court of Pakistan to draw attention towards this matter.

Naz Shah MP said that it’s embarrassing that the murder trials are delayed for so long while common people await justice and many end up losing hope in the process.

She told this correspondent that it’s travesty of justice that the accused in Fahad Malik’s killing case has access to internet in Adiala Jail and celebrated birthdays. She said that the whole point of someone being in jail is to make sure that justice is done, but it’s shocking when the accused gets VIP treatment in jail.

Naz Shah MP said that it’s important to get justice not just for Fahad Malik but for all other British nationals who have been killed abroad. She said that Pakistan’s judiciary has to fix a lot of things and one of these is ensuring timely justice and speedy trials so that the trauma of affected families is reduced.

Fahad Malik--who studied law at the Lincoln's Inn here--was assassinated on the night of August 14, 2016, in Islamabad by gangsters. Malik was leaving Shalimar police station after duty, acting for a client, when his car was stopped and he was showered with bullets.

Samia Shahid was killed by her ex-husband after she divorced him and married a Pakistani man from Jhelum after falling in love. The Bradford girl was on a visit to Pakistan when her family killed her. Naz Shah MP has been highlighting the cases of both Fahad Malik and Samia Shahid to seek justice for their families.