The Islamabad high court on Friday ordered the release of 2008 Mumbai attack accused and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi by declaring his third-time detention orders void, drawing strong protest from India.
The foreign ministry summoned Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit and said the move went against Islamabad's professed commitment to fight terrorism and not differentiate among terrorists. “If a person...who is also designated an international terrorist by the UN is released, it will pose a threat that cannot be ignored,“ said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin. The Islamabad high court on Friday released 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi attracting strong protests from New Delhi, which summoned the Pakistani ambassador to express its displeasure.
Accepting Lakhvi's plea against his detention by the government under maintenance of Public Order Act, Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi pronounced the notification “null and void“, adding that the court hadn't been presented with enough evidence to keep him in jail.
“Lakhvi is a Pakistani citizen and he cannot be detained under external pressure. The detention of the petitioner is not only illegal but also violates the fundamental rights of a common Pakistani citizen,“ the order said. The ministry of home affairs said “overwhelming“ evidence against Lakhvi wasn't given to the court by the Pakistani agencies. Minister of state for home Kiran Rijiju said, “The overwhelming evidence against Lakhvi has not been presented properly before court by Pakistani agencies. There are no good terrorists or bad terrorists.“
An MHA spokesperson said, “It's the responsibility of the Pakistani government to take all legal measures to ensure that Lakhvi doesn't come out of jail.“
High commissioner Basit later told reporters, “He (Lakhvi) may have been granted bail but as you know the trial continues. We are all working to complete the trial. Let the judicial process take its course.“
Lakhvi's counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi said the jail authorities were bound to release his client. “The court orders will be submitted before the jail superintendent soon,“ he said.
A trial court hearing the Mumbai attacks case had granted Lakhvi bail on December 18 last year. However, international pressure forced Pakistan's government to re arrest him in a six-year-old kidnapping case involving an Afghan national.
Sources in Pakistan's interior ministry said the federal government might detain Lakhvi under another public security order as the court had already restrained it from registering any other case against Lakhvi without its permission. Attorney general Mian Abdul Rauf said the main reason for Lakhvi's detention was to prevent him from attending any public meeting and potentially regrouping.
Lakhvi was arrested in December 2008 from LeT's headquarters in Muzaffarabad and a case lodged against him and six co-accused by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in February 2009. The others are Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid.
The foreign ministry summoned Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit and said the move went against Islamabad's professed commitment to fight terrorism and not differentiate among terrorists. “If a person...who is also designated an international terrorist by the UN is released, it will pose a threat that cannot be ignored,“ said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin. The Islamabad high court on Friday released 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi attracting strong protests from New Delhi, which summoned the Pakistani ambassador to express its displeasure.
Accepting Lakhvi's plea against his detention by the government under maintenance of Public Order Act, Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi pronounced the notification “null and void“, adding that the court hadn't been presented with enough evidence to keep him in jail.
“Lakhvi is a Pakistani citizen and he cannot be detained under external pressure. The detention of the petitioner is not only illegal but also violates the fundamental rights of a common Pakistani citizen,“ the order said. The ministry of home affairs said “overwhelming“ evidence against Lakhvi wasn't given to the court by the Pakistani agencies. Minister of state for home Kiran Rijiju said, “The overwhelming evidence against Lakhvi has not been presented properly before court by Pakistani agencies. There are no good terrorists or bad terrorists.“
An MHA spokesperson said, “It's the responsibility of the Pakistani government to take all legal measures to ensure that Lakhvi doesn't come out of jail.“
High commissioner Basit later told reporters, “He (Lakhvi) may have been granted bail but as you know the trial continues. We are all working to complete the trial. Let the judicial process take its course.“
Lakhvi's counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi said the jail authorities were bound to release his client. “The court orders will be submitted before the jail superintendent soon,“ he said.
A trial court hearing the Mumbai attacks case had granted Lakhvi bail on December 18 last year. However, international pressure forced Pakistan's government to re arrest him in a six-year-old kidnapping case involving an Afghan national.
Sources in Pakistan's interior ministry said the federal government might detain Lakhvi under another public security order as the court had already restrained it from registering any other case against Lakhvi without its permission. Attorney general Mian Abdul Rauf said the main reason for Lakhvi's detention was to prevent him from attending any public meeting and potentially regrouping.
Lakhvi was arrested in December 2008 from LeT's headquarters in Muzaffarabad and a case lodged against him and six co-accused by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in February 2009. The others are Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid.
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