Nisar’s timely action saved Pak-UK pact on exchanging prisoners

Following timely action by incumbent Interior Minister Ch Nisar in February 2014, not only was the Transfer of Prisoners Agreement (TPA) between Pakistan and the United Kingdom saved from being broken, but the key PML-N leader’s widely-lauded initiative also prevented global embarrassment, research shows.

It was actually after this action from the interior minister in February 2014 that the Transfer of Prisoners Agreement was revived by the British government in March 2015 after its suspension in 2012.

The suspension decision had resulted after three convicts, sentenced to long terms by British courts on drug and murder charges, were freed prematurely due to the collusion of Pakistani officials concerned in 2010.

The spirit behind the agreement was to enable such prisoners to receive help and support from their families and where they could be properly prepared for release into the community in which they lived.

This accord was signed between Pakistan and Britain on August 24, 2007 and had come into force on August 19, 2008.

The Transfer of Prisoners Agreement facilitates the two countries to exchange prisoners to enable them to serve their remaining terms in their respective countries and that too after the consent of the prisoners.

Archival research reveals that after Ch Nisar reportedly received a confidential letter from the then British Secretary of State for Justice in February 2014, he had acted promptly and made a Punjab police sub-inspector and Malik Ali Muhammad, a section officer of his own ministry land in jail.

The section officer had ensured the premature release of three convicts, who were sentenced to long terms by British courts on drugs and murder charges.

He was entrusted with the task to look after the Transfer of Prisoners Agreement cases, but was found guilty of preparing fake documents to get the three convicts released from jail.

Consequently, an FIR no 24/2014 was registered by the FIA on March 28, 2014 under Sections 201, 222, 420, 468, 471 and 109 PPC against section officer Malik Ali Muhammad and the three freed convicts.

The three prisoners, sentenced to 18 years, 19 years and 25-year terms by the British courts, were transferred from Britain to Pakistan on August 21, 2010 under this agreement with the understanding that they would complete their remaining sentence in Pakistan.

Muhammad Nasir Khan, one of the three accused sent to Pakistan, was convicted of murder and was sentenced to 19 years by a British court.

He was transferred to Pakistan to serve remainder of his sentence but was freed on September 30, 2010 from Central Jail Karachi, just 41 days after his shifting, after interior ministry’s section officer Malik Ali Muhammad had allegedly prepared fake documents for the prisoner on which the Karachi jail authorities had to free him. After his release, Nasir Khan fled to the United Arab Emirates.

Another culprit, Asad Javed, was sentenced to 25 years in Britain on drug charges. He was also moved to Pakistan to serve the remaining sentence here.

This convict too was freed on November 8, 2010, after 80 days of his arrival in country from Karachi Central Jail prior to completion of his term of sentence with the connivance of the same section officer who had used the same modus operandi of fake remission documents. Asad Javed, who was on the run, was arrested by the FIA from Karachi on April 1, 2014. After getting the news about the premature release of Asad Javed, the British government had sent its representative to the interior ministry in August 2012 to check about the whereabouts of this prisoner.

third man, Rizwan Habib Alvi, was also convicted in Britain on murder charges for 18 years. He was shifted to Pakistan to serve reminder of his sentence under the Pak-UK agreement.

He was also set free after 80 days from Central Jail Karachi with the involvement of Section Officer Malik Ali Muhammad with similar counterfeit documents before completion of his sentence. He had subsequently fled to Malaysia.

Although Chaudhry Nisar was constantly monitoring the case and tracking the movement of Rizwan Habib Alvi, the convict came to know and quickly escaped to Ecuador, but was eventually apprehended by the Interpol.

Under the Pak-UK pact being discussed in this story, no such remission could have been given to any convict by any of the two governments.