ISLAMABAD: A memorandum of understanding signed between Pakistan and the United Kingdom for the extradition of former finance minister Ishaq Dar promises the “right to a fair trial,” the document which was released to media this week said.
Dar is a close aide and family member of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the jailed head of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party. He has been living in self-exile in London since October 2017 and was charged in absentia by a Pakistani anti-corruption court for amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income.
“[This MoU] records the understandings which have been reached for the extradition of Ishaq Dar to the jurisdiction of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” reads the extradition document, dated May 24, and signed in London by Pakistan’s Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar and Graeme Biggar, Director General of the UK’s National Economic Crime Center.
The document says Dar would have the “right to a fair trail, including the right to adjudication by an impartial tribunal.”
Dar told media this week that he had visited the UK Home Office on June 18 and lodged a protest saying the cases against him were politically motivated and he would not get justice under Pakistan’s current government.
In comments to media last week, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Dar would get a fair trial, adding that Pakistan was ready to revoke the capital punishment for Pakistani nationals extradited from other countries – a major demand of the UK where the death penalty is banned.
“We are amending the Pakistan Penal Code to revoke capital punishment for the accused, who will be brought back to the country under extradition treaties with other countries,” Qureshi said.
Qureshi’s announcement came just a day after a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in London, where Hunt declared that the UK would not sign “politically-motivated” extradition treaties with any country.
According to the contents of the MoU, Dar’s extradition rests on the guarantee that he will be solely tried on genuine criminal offenses if handed over to Pakistan.
But legal experts say they doubt extradition will materialize.
“Signing of the MoU between Pakistan and UK is indeed a significant development, but the extradition of Ishaq Dar remains a far cry,” said Muzzammil Mukhtar, solicitor and director of London-based law firm Synthesis Chambers Solicitors.
According to him, the UK would not sign an extradition treaty with Pakistan until the latter amended its penal code to abolish the death penalty.
“Dar’s extradition is a high-profile case and even if the treaty is signed between both the countries, this (extradition) may not materialize,” he said.
As of now, the former finance minister has a host of options to avoid his extradition under UK laws, including moving a court under the UK Human Rights Act, the EU Convention on Human Rights and the UK Refugee Convention which guarantee a person the right to life, a fair trial and prevention against torture.
Under these laws, Dar can claim asylum in the UK, citing Pakistan’s human rights’ record and history of political victimization.
“If Dar moves a court against his extradition, it will be a good, arguable case under the UK’s refugee convention to seek asylum,” Mukhtar said, adding that backdoor diplomacy and the “mutual interests” of both countries may well result in Dar’s eventual extradition.
Pakistan-UK agreement for Ishaq Dar’s extradition promises “fair trial”
Pakistan-UK agreement for Ishaq Dar’s extradition promises “fair trial”
- Under UK laws, Dar can claim asylum citing Pakistan’s human rights’ record and history of political victimization
- Pakistan says it will amend its laws to revoke capital punishment for extradited Pakistanis, a major demand of the UK
Tens of thousands flee northwest Pakistan over fears of military operation
- More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled remote Tirah region bordering Afghanistan
- Government says no military operation underway or planned in Tirah, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
BARA, Pakistan: More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled a remote region in northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan over uncertainty of a military operation against the Pakistani Taliban, residents and officials said Tuesday.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif has denied the claim by residents and provincial authorities. He said no military operation was underway or planned in Tirah, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, he said harsh weather, rather than military action, was driving the migration. His comments came weeks after residents started fleeing Tirah over fears of a possible army operation.
The exodus began a month after mosque loudspeakers urged residents to leave Tirah by Jan. 23 to avoid potential fighting. Last August, Pakistan launched a military operation against Pakistani Taliban in the Bajau r district in the northwest, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
Shafi Jan, a spokesman for the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, posted on X that he held the federal government responsible for the ordeal of the displaced people, saying authorities in Islamabad were retracting their earlier position about the military operation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Suhail Afridi, whose party is led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has criticized the military and said his government will not allow troops to launch a full-scale operation in Tirah.
The military says it will continue intelligence-based operations against Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Though a separate group, it has been emboldened since the Afghan
Taliban returned to power in 2021. Authorities say many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan and that hundreds of them have crossed into Tirah, often using residents as human shields when militant hideouts are raided.
Caught in the middle are the residents of Tirah, who continued arriving in Bara.
So far, local authorities have registered roughly 10,000 families — about 70,000 people — from Tirah, which has a population of around 150,000, said Talha Rafiq Alam, a local government administrator overseeing the relief effort. He said the registration deadline, originally set for Jan. 23, has been extended to Feb. 5.
He said the displaced would be able to return once the law-and-order situation improves.
Among those arriving in Bara and nearby towns was 35-year-old Zar Badshah, who said he left with his wife and four children after the authorities ordered an evacuation. He said mortar shells had exploded in villages in recent weeks, killing a woman and wounding four children in his village. “Community elders told us to leave. They instructed us to evacuate to safer places,” he said.
At a government school in Bara, hundreds of displaced lined up outside registration centers, waiting to be enrolled to receive government assistance. Many complained the process was slow.
Narendra Singh, 27, said members of the minority Sikh community also fled Tirah after food shortages worsened, exacerbated by heavy snowfall and uncertain security.
“There was a severe shortage of food items in Tirah, and that forced us to leave,” he said.
Tirah gained national attention in September, after an explosion at a compound allegedly used to store bomb-making materials killed at least 24 people. Authorities said most of the dead were militants linked to the TTP, though local leaders disputed that account, saying civilians, including women and children, were among the dead.
