IHC appoints two amici curiae in Dr Aafia case

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has appointed two amici curiae in the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui to assist the court besides coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

An IHC single bench comprising Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaque Khan on Friday heard the constitutional petition of Dr Fowzia Siddiqui.

The court had asked the MoFA to provide the list of leading Pakistani lawyers living in the USA so as to seek help from them in this case.

However Additional Secretary (America) MoFA told the court that they have no such credible record about the leading Pakistani lawyers living in the USA.

He said some people after getting the US nationality renounce the Pakistani nationality and hence they don’t have a credible record about the Pakistanis living in the USA.

However, the court appointed two amici curiae Ms Zainab Janjua & Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif to assist the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in legal communicating about this case with the US administration and the American lawyer of Aafia Siddiqui Clive Stafford Smith.

The court order said that MoFA’s responses are always undated & unnumbered despite clear orders in the last hearing. “MOFA does not have any visibility on the diaspora of Pakistani lawyers in US law firms,” IHC said.

However, talking to media outside the court premises JI leader former Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan said, “We hope that the court would dole out justice in this case.”

He said due to struggle in courts, Parliament, media and mass circles Dr Aafia Siddiqui would hopefully be back home soon.