ISLAMABAD: Chances of extradition of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif seems bleak as Pakistan has no extradition treaty with United Kingdom.
A report compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been submitted before the Supreme Court in a case of a Pakistani US national who has been accused of planning attacks on Manhattan’s Time Square in New York.
Talha Haroon, was arrested in Pakistan in 2016 after US authorities identified him as one of three men, along with a Canadian citizen and a man from the Philippines, planning attacks on Manhattan’s Times Square and the city’s subway.
An additional deputy commissioner general (ADCG) had ordered to extradite Talha to US after going through the matter after conducting an inquiry regarding his involvement in planning attacks in New York City with connivance of other accused.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Mushir Alam while hearing the case had sought a detailed and comprehensive report stating if there is any extradition treaty signed by Pakistan with the United States and United Kingdom besides furnishing details as to how many Pakistanis have been handed over to these countries and details pertaining to Pakistanis extradited from these countries as well.
The report submitted by Additional Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti consists of 34 countries having extradition treaties with the government of Pakistan except UK.
He submitted that in the year 2008, two persons namely, Farid Tawaqal and Farooq Tawaqal, involved in offences related to corruption, were extradited form US.
Similarly, he told the court that one Aamer Ahmed, a US national was extradited from Pakistan to US, in the year 2014-15.
In August Adviser to the Prime Minster on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar had told a press conference that the government is treating him (Nawaz Sharif) as an absconder and has already sent a request to the British government to extradite him,”
He had further said that Nawaz Sharif stroll on London roads is a slap in the face of the judiciary and the government cannot allow this. Shahzad Akbar had further revealed that the government would request the NAB to pursue Nawaz Sharif’s extradition as well and it was also looking into legalities of guarantees of Shahbaz Sharif, who was supposed to escort his elder brother back to Pakistan after his medical treatment.
On Friday, a senior officer of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) when contacted said on condition of anonymity that it is not the job of the anti-graft body to initiate process of extradition of former premier, but the government which send him abroad.
Meanwhile, Shahzad Akbar was repeatedly contacted on his cell phone but he was not attending the call. Similarly, Information Minister Shibli Faraz was repeatedly contacted and text message was also sent on his cell phone but he did not reply.
Last year in November this paper had reported that the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) had rejected the request of the Pakistan government to issue former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s red arrest warrant notice.
According to The News report, the Interpol General Secretariat had informed all Interpol National Central Bureaus (NCBs) to delete all data files in their systems on Ishaq Dar, issuing him a clean certificate that he is not subject to “an Interpol red notice or diffusion”.
On July 14, 2018, Attorney General Khalid Javed had informed the court that the red warrant was issued after the approval of Ministry of Interior. He had submitted that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has forwarded the red warrant to Interpol to arrest the former finance minister.
While, the Interior Ministry had submitted a reply over Dar's return to the Supreme Court and stated that the former finance minister will be brought back with help of Interpol.
Similarly, in January last year the NAB had informed a three member bench of the Supreme Court headed by former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar that the process to extradite former finance minister Ishaq Dar had begun. The bench was hearing a case pertaining to illegal appointment of former Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) managing director Attaul Haq Qasmi. The judgment came in a corruption reference filed in the wake of the apex court July 28, 2017 order, for Dar’s allegedly having assets beyond known sources of income.
Still, the former finance minister and close relative of Mian Nawaz Sharif could not be extradited from United Kingdom.
A senior law officer requesting not to be named told The News that there are zero chances of bringing back Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan.