LAHORE/ISLAMABAD – Lawyers are divided over the issue of the release of Raymond Davis, as some of them said that the whole affair was conducted in a dubious manner, whereas others said the matter was resolved in accordance with the law of the land. Justice Tariq Mehmood said the decision was in accordance with law of the land as it permits that if the heirs of a person killed agree to diyat or blood money, the murderer could be forgiven and subsequently acquitted by the court.
When pointed out that the lawyer of the killed had stated that the heirs were forced to sign diyat, Justice Tariq said, “It is a statement of the lawyer, not any one of the heirs. Pakistan Bar Council Chairman Lateef Afridi said the matter had been resolved and the court was satisfied as the heirs of the killed gave a statement that they had received the money.
Calling Davis’ release unfortunate, Hamid Khan said the manner in which the whole affair was conducted was extremely questionable. Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, former vice president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, said the process in which Davis was released was very questionable. “The release, which is said to be based on diyat, has been secured under pressure and both federal and provincial governments are part of this clandestine and immoral scheme,” he said.
Meanwhile, jurists have said Davis’ release by payment of diyat, and not through diplomatic immunity as claimed by the US government, meant success for Pakistan, the media and the judiciary. The jurists said the trial court could not stop legal heirs of the deceased from pardoning the accused until it was a case of manslaughter.
Senior jurist Muhammad Azhar Siddique who had challenged Davis’ diplomatic immunity in the Lahore High Court told Pakistan Today that it was a sensitive issue between two states, the US and Pakistan, adding that he was “happy that issue solved in an amicable way through the law of diyat”. To a question, Siddique said Davis was indicted for double murder, not for other charges like espionage because there was no such case before the court.
Renowned jurist Ahmer Bilal Sufi said diyat was the only solution left after both the Pakistan and the US governments had taken a “hard stand on the issue” and if it had not been solved, it could have created serious consequence for the nation.
