ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad High Court (IHC) bench, formed to hear a plea seeking release of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Saddiqui who has been incarcerated in the US, was dissolved on Monday after Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas declined to hear the petition and urged the formation of a larger bench, Pakistani state media reported.
Siddiqui, a Pakistani national, is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States after being convicted in 2010 of attempted murder of US personnel in Afghanistan. Her trial and detention have long sparked public outcry in Pakistan, with successive governments under pressure to secure her repatriation.
Last week, the IHC withdrew the plea, filed by Siddiqui’s sister Fowzia seeking her release and repatriation to Pakistan, from Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and reassigned it to Justice Minhas, according to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
The move came after Justice Khan ordered to process contempt notices to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his entire cabinet for not complying with the high court’s earlier orders and failing to submit the government’s response in the case.
“The IHC new bench to hear case pertaining to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was dissolved on Monday after Justice Minhas sent file to the chief justice for formation of a larger bench,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
