LAHORE, March 31: The State has brought espionage charges against Dr Ahmad
Javed Khwaja and Ahmad Naveed Khwaja, who, after the lapse of their
three-month detention, have once again been detained for two months on
Saturday.
The State has brought new charges against the two brothers in the fresh
detention order after the Supreme Court's ruling that Al Qaeda was not a
declared "terrorist" organization under the 1973 Constitution or any
anti-terrorism law of the country.
Earlier, they were charged with having "indulged in anti-state activities
on behalf of a foreign organization" and detained initially for three months.
Their fresh detention order reads: "Federal government is satisfied that
you have been involved in espionage activities in Pakistan on behalf of a
foreign country and, thus, your activities have been prejudicial to the
security of Pakistan".
The detention order was released to the Khwajas' counsel on Monday by the
Kot Lakhpat Jail authorities.
The two Khwajas were detained on Dec 30, 2002, with three other family
members for three months on allegations of harbouring Al Qaeda activists in
their house in the Manawan area. However, the other three - Dr Umar Karar,
Dr Khizar Ali and Muhammad Usman - were ordered to be released by the
Lahore High Court on Feb 17.
The new two-month detention order has been passed by the interior ministry
under section 3(1)(b) of the Security of Pakistan Act, 1952 - the same
section which was used for their earlier detention.
The State has acknowledged in the latest detention order the detainees'
right to file representation before the authorities concerned against their
fresh detention.
Their counsel, Pervez Inayat Malik, claimed that the nature of the charges
levelled in both orders was the same and the State had used just "jugglary
of words" to pass another detention order.
The addition of the phrase "indulgence in espionage activities" had been
used in order to avoid direct collision with the SC judgment ruling that Al
Qaeda was not a declared terrorist origanization in Pakistan, he alleged.
According to the counsel, the State had tried to pose in the fresh
detention order that it had discovered certain new anti- state activities
by the detainees in order to provide a "sham" legal cover to their further
detention. "Had this been the case, the State would have produced the fresh
incriminating material before the review board during the previous
three-month detention," he remarked.
Mr Malik said that the appeal against the new detention order would be
filed after consultation with the Khawajas' senior counsel who is currently
out of the country. A full bench of the SC is scheduled to take up the
Khwajas' appeal on April 3, against the LHC's verdict regarding their
earlier detention.
http://www.dawn.com/2003/04/01/top9.htm
