Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured Dr Fouzia Siddiqui on Friday that the government would continue to provide all possible legal and diplomatic support in the matter of her sister, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist serving a prison sentence in the United States, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Registrar Office put on hold the processing of the contempt of court notices issued to PM Shehbaz and his cabinet members as the dealing staff decided to ascertain its validity first.
IHC Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq on July 21 had issued a contempt of court notice to the entire federal government, including the prime minister and all ministers, for refusing to file an amicus brief to support Dr Aafia’s case in the US.
“The government is in no way negligent regarding the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui,” the prime minister was quoted as having said by APP in a meeting today with Dr Fouzia.
On the instructions of PM Shehbaz, the government has previously provided diplomatic and legal assistance in the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a statement issued by the PM Office said.
“Furthermore, the prime minister not only wrote a letter to then-US president Joe Biden regarding this issue but also formed a committee headed by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar to ensure further progress in the matter,” the statement added.
“The committee will remain in contact with Dr Fouzia and work to provide the necessary support in this regard.”
Dr Aafia, a neuroscientist and educator, was convicted by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on charges of attempted murder of US personnel in Afghanistan and has been serving her sentence at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Carswell in the US since 2010.
On July 12, the IHC expressed dissatisfaction over the federal government’s failure to submit a report in the case concerning Dr Aafia’s release, health and repatriation, with Justice Ishaq threatening to “summon the entire cabinet” if the report was not presented.
In February, the IHC was told that the proposal to exchange Shakil Afridi for Dr Aafia was unfeasible.
The law officer representing the federal government informed the court that Dr Aafia’s American lawyer Clive Smith had suggested the swap, but Pakistan and the US did not have any agreement for such an exchange.
Last year in October, PM Shehbaz had requested that Biden pardon and release Dr Aafia from jail.
In a letter dated October 13, which has been seen by media.com, the prime minister expressed his concerns about Dr Aafia’s “fragile mental and frail physical health” while in prison. “Now 52 years old, she has served 16 years behind bars in the US.
“Numerous Pakistani officials have paid consular visits to Dr Siddiqui … all of them have raised their serious concerns about the treatment she has received,” the letter read. “In fact, they fear she may take her own life.”
Consequently, the US State Department declined to comment on the letter written by PM Shehbaz to the Biden administration.
When a journalist inquired about the letter, spokesperson Vedant Patel had stated: “Certainly, we would not get into private diplomatic communications,” seemingly confirming receipt of the correspondence.
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