Interpol unlikely to move against Haqqani: experts

WASHINGTON: Interpol and the United States government are unlikely to act against former ambassador Husain Haqqani primarily because the charges against him are directly related to the Memogate scandal, which is seen as a political case under international law, according to experts.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan had expressed dissatisfaction over a compliance report submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency in the memogate case and gave the government two days to complete legal process for the repatriation of Husain Haqqani.

Legal experts here have reasoned that the former ambassador cannot be repatriated to Pakistan without extradition, which according to them, requires complex process involving US courts and the State Department. "It can certainly not be completed in a frame of time fixed by Pakistan's Supreme Court," observed a legal expert who requested not to be named.

Explaining main features of the process, the expert pointed out that the US does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan and more importantly international law does not allow repatriation for political crimes.

Article three of Interpol's constitution provides that "it is strictly forbidden for the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character." In determining whether a matter is of a political character, the organisation applies the predominance test. It evaluates all relevant information and pertinent elements, as provided by the rules, to determine whether the offense is of a predominantly political character.

The Interpol's fifty page long 'Repository of Practice' clarifies the point. In Article 3 section 4 it says: "Offences committed against the internal or external security of the state, such as the offences of treason, sedition, and espionage, have traditionally been viewed as pure political offences under extradition law. Interpol has therefore consistently considered that such crimes fall within the scope of Article 3 of the Constitution."

Memogate and charges of treason or disloyalty to the state fall under the definition of a political case, the legal expert said adding that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's acknowledgement that he committed a mistake in bringing it to the court as a petitioner strengthens Haqqani's ability to thwart extradition.

Moreover, extradition would require court proceedings in a US court as well. There, too, a formal charge and evidence admissible under US and Pakistani law would have to be presented or that, new evidence would have to be recorded against Haqqani before initiating proceedings against him.

It was also mentioned that a political offence exception could also be exercised since it limits the obligation of a sovereign state under an extradition or mutual legal assistance treaty. Such provisos allow the state whose assistance has been requested to refuse to hand over a suspect to another state, if the requested party's competent authority determines that the requesting party seeks assistance in order to prosecute an offence of a political character.

Haqqani's lawyers in the US are likely to insist that Memogate and any charges stemming from it, including allegations of criminality in use of secret funds, falls under the Interpol Charter's definition of a political character.