The Hindu : Front Page : The flaw that let Saeed off the hook

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Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009
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The flaw that let Saeed off the hook

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Arguments by A.K. Dogar, counsel for Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, in the Lahore High Court that led to Tuesday’s order for his release from detention centred on the failure of the government to provide the JuD chief with grounds for his detention within the stipulated 15 days. He maintained that the grounds, when they were finally provided to Mr. Saeed, referred mainly to the U.N. resolution. The resolution did not specify the arrest of the designated individuals, and demanded only a travel ban, an assets freeze and arms embargo.

The lawyer argued that pressure from India and the U.S. had forced the Pakistan government to compromise on the country’s sovereignty and act against the JuD and its leadership. He described the group as an “unarmed” charity that ran educational institutions and health camps, including schools for girls whose students were examination toppers.

At Tuesday’s hearing, government lawyers sought to rebut Mr. Dogar’s arguments by saying that as a detention review board had extended Mr. Saeed’s detention twice, any lapses in the original detention stood rectified. They referred to the “classified information” they had shared with the Bench in an “in camera” meeting last week. But the Bench brushed it aside, saying “it is not enough.”

Even before Mr. Saeed was released following the High Court order — the order had not reached the police stationed outside his home until the evening — he managed to meet reporters at his home, and told them that the Lahore High Court decision in his favour proved that Pakistan’s judiciary was independent and did not act under pressure.

“We presented our case to the courts, to the U.N. and to the EU. This is our first success. It has proved all the charges of terrorism against the JuD are false. Although the government tried its best to link us with terrorists and Al-Qaeda, they were unsuccessful,” the JuD chief said.

“No evidence”

He described his arrest as a consequence of “Indian propaganda” linking him to the Mumbai attacks, and said: “India is trying to create problems for us all over the world with this propaganda.” But, he said, India could not produce a “shred of evidence” that he was involved in the Mumbai incident.

He said India wanted him and the JuD to be silenced because they were “firmly opposed to the Indian occupation of Kashmir and we raise our voice on this issue at every opportunity.”

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