IHC adjourns Dr Aafia release case till Jan 24

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday adjourned Dr Aafia Siddique’s release case till January 24 and termed that the next week is important pertaining to the matter.

Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan heard the case regarding the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from a US jail. Dr Fouzia’s lawyer Imran Shafiq appeared before the court and adopted the stance that neither the response to the PM’s letter to the US president came so far nor was the receiving of the letter confirmed by US authorities.

The lawyer said that his client Dr Fouzia, the sister of Dr Aafia, has reached the US and so far she could not meet Pakistan’s ambassador to the US.

At this, the court instructed the Foreign Office to arrange the meeting of Dr Fouzia with Pakistan’s ambassador in the US. The bench remarked that the next week in this case is important and the court has also given instructions to the Foreign Office (FO) in this regard.

During the hearing of Dr Aafia’s case, the representative of the Foreign Office informed the court that the record regarding the PM’s foreign visits couldn’t be presented on Monday due to visit of the Secretary Foreign Affairs to China.

He requested the court to grant time in this regard. The court granted time till next week for submission of the record and adjourned the case till January 24. It may be mentioned here that the IHC’s bench had sought a record regarding the foreign visits of PM in a hearing dated December 20.