Dr. Aafia Siddiuqi release case: Govt tells IHC it has no objection in principle to signing the amicus brief

     ISLAMABAD, Sep 14 (SABAH): The Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan has told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the government has no objection in principle to signing the amicus brief regarding seeking the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.

As per details, the single bench of Justice Ejaz Ishaq Khan heard the constitutional petition (3139/2015) of Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui regarding the release of her sister Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.

The court order said: The learned Attorney General has appeared and stated that the Government has no objection in principle to signing the amicus brief, a draft of which was shared with the Government and has been the subject matter of discussion in the preceding hearings.

He assures the Court that, barring any extraordinary surprises in the draft of the Motion for Compassionate Release shared by Mr. Smith, he sees no problem as to why the Government would not sign the brief and stand by Mr. Smith in the United States Court when it is taken up.  As for the Clemency Petition, the learned Attorney General states that there is a real possibility of the Pakistan delegation, as proposed by Mr. Smith in his latest declaration, calling on the White House, or in meetings expected during the UN events in the US that will be attended by the Prime Minister/Deputy Prime Minister over the next couple of weeks. 

The learned Attorney General states that the Government will file its own request for clemency synchronously with the clemency petition filed by Mr. Smith, with the Government of Pakistan expressing its awareness of the clemency petition filed by Mr. Smith and, while not owning the factual contentions therein, would nonetheless support the grant of clemency on lines similar to Para 4 of the draft amicus brief shared with the Government.

Mr. Smith has also filed his latest declaration dated 10.09.2024.  It is brought on record.  It is very encouraging to see that, as expressed in Para 19 of the declaration, Mr. Smith now has an effective group of professionals working on four fronts – the IHC litigation, clemency petition, compassionate release and prison conditions, with a team of lawyers, journalists and political representatives in the United States.   His team includes Mr. Frank Panopoulos, a former White & Case attorney, with whom Mr. Smith worked on various Guantanamo Bay cases.  Then come Naim Sakhia and Maria Kari, counsels assisting Mr. Smith in his litigation relating to the prison conditions. On his team is also Kaley Johnson, a local journalist focusing on prison conditions. Of course the Pakistan Ambassador and his assistant Mr. Adeel Pervaiz are also part of his team. Mr. Tom Malinowski, a US Congressman, and Mr. Eric Lewis, the founder partner of the major DC law firm Lewis Bacche (LBKM) are also supporting Mr. Smith in all his endeavours. Mr. Emad Ansari, counsel in New York, is lending support to Mr. Smith in relation to his motion for compassionate release. The Court is indebted to all, and wishes them the best in their endeavors.

The learned Additional Attorney for General assures the Court that the work on the Prisoner Transfer Agreement is in full swing, and that the timeline of three weeks granted to the Government would be duly complied with. The case was relisted on 18.10.2024.