IHC accepts plea for release of Pakistani national from Guantanamo Bay

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), while accepting a plea seeking the release of Pakistani national Ghulam Ahmad Rabbani detained in Guantanamo Bay, adjourned the hearing till June 28. When an IHC division comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb took up the case for hearing on Monday, Mirza Shahzad Akbar appeared on behalf of the petitioner and told the court that the case was pending hearing since long and the court should conduct the hearing of the case regularly. The court remarked it fully realised the delay. The court later put off the case till June 28. The petition said the government should seek access to Rabbani under Vienna Convention and make arrangements for providing access of the counsel to the detainee. The petition also sought action against former president Pervez Musharraf who allegedly handed over Rabbani to the US. Rabbani, a resident of Karachi, was arrested in 2001 by agencies and was later handed over to the US. He was first shifted to the Bagram jail in Afghanistan and then to Guantanamo Bay.