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Friday 14 December 2018

Heat on Pakistan over release of jailed Indians

On December 11, MEA issued a note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, asking them to make necessary arrangements for the "earliest" release of Indian prisoners who have either completed their sentence or have been identified as Indian nationals lodged in Pakistani prisons. 

MEA issued a note verbale to the Pak High Commission in New Delhi.
MEA issued a note verbale to the Pak High Commission in New Delhi.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • India has increased the heat on Pakistan to release Indian prisoners lodged in Pakistani jails and have completed their sentences
  • India Today TV accessed the contents of the note verbale which raised the issue of Indian national Hamid Nehal Ahmed Ansari
  • Hamid has been languishing in Pakistani prison for 6 years
India has increased the heat on Pakistan to release Indian prisoners lodged in Pakistani jails and have completed their sentences. On December 11, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, asking them to make necessary arrangements for the "earliest" release of Indian prisoners who have either completed their sentence or have been identified as Indian nationals lodged in Pakistani prisons.
India Today TV accessed the contents of the note verbale which particularly, raised the issue of Indian national Hamid Nehal Ahmed Ansari, who has been languishing in Pakistani prison for around six years with no consular access to him despite 95 requests made by the Indian mission in Islamabad.
"It is noted with serious concern that Hamid Nehal Ahmed Ansari has not been granted Consular Access till date, despite repeated requests for Consular Access and case details (on 95 occasions). He has been languishing in Pakistan jail/s for about 6 years now and no consideration was shown towards his pre trial custody period of more than three years. We are yet to receive an official communication with regard to charges levelled against him and the sections of the relevant penal code under which he was tried", said the note verbale.
Government of India has already made 95 formal requests for allowing Consular Access to Hamid but to no avail. While Hamid was arrested in 2012, the Pakistan Foreign Office included his name in the list of prisoners only in January 2016.
This is against all international diplomatic norms and it violates the Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had in October 2017 suggested that both countries should cooperate in matters related to mentally unsound prisoners, elderly, juveniles and women prisoners and fishermen, and reviving the Joint Judicial Committee (JJC) mechanism that had last met in 2013 in India. It has been 9 months after Pakistan accepted India's proposal in March 2018 but it has not taken any action to move on the proposal.

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