Islamabad High Court (IHC) has appointed two amici curiae in the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui to assist the court besides coordinating with the ministry of foreign affairs and the
American lawyer of Dr Aafia, Clive Stafford Smith.
A single bench of Islamabad High Court IHC comprising Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaque Khan here heard the constitutional petition of Dr Fowzia Siddiqui.
Mr Imran Shafique, advocate appeared for the petitioner. Mr Clive Stafford Smith and Dr Fowzia Siddiqui appeared through video link.
Hafiz Ahmad Rashid AAG, Ms Zainab Janjua advocate/ amici, Additional Secretary MoFA US through video link, Mr Assad Burki legal advisor MoFA, and Muhammad Hamza, AD US-II appeared on behaviour of the respondents.
The court order said that the ministry has further filed that as always remains unnumbered and undated despite a clear order to this effect passed on the last date. Learned counsel of the petitioner also filed today a declaration by Mr Smith, which apart from raising several points that necessitate MoFA’s attention also brings to the fore the fact that MoFA does not have any visibility on the diaspora of Pakistani lawyers in top-ranked law firms who can be contacted to support Mr Smith’s efforts. Further several other points raised in Mr Smith’s declaration
necessitate that this Court appoints amici to move things forward.
