- Saudi response is still awaited pertaining to death of a Pakistani transvestite in police custody
Saudi Arabia has still not responded to Pakistan about the circumstances leading to the death of a Pakistani transvestite in police custody, while five more Pakistani transgender are still detained in a Saudi jail, seeking legal assistance for their release.
A copy of official documents of Ministry of Foreign Affairs available with Pakistan Today disclosed that one transgender namely Muhammad Amin Azim, who was living illegally for several years in Saudi Arabia, expired due to a heart attack in police custody. And, on March 6, 2017, Pakistan’s Mission in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) wrote a letter to the Saudi foreign Office in order to know the circumstances that lead to the death of Muhammad Amin Azim during policy custody. However, the response from Saudi Foreign Office is still awaited, the document said.
According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at present, there are five Pakistani nationals who have been detained in the Mulaz Jail (Saudi Arabia), and the Saudi police after completing its investigation have referred their case to the Criminal Court of Riyadh. Normally, Saudi court takes two months to complete initial hearings before deciding. The mission (Pakistan) will provide all possible legal assistance for the release of five Pakistanis, claimed Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Official sources on condition of anonymity informed this scribe that, so far, Pakistan’s embassy has not bothered to meet the five detained Pakistani transvestites and, on top of that, has been negligent in providing legal assistance for their release. They said Pakistan’s embassy team in Saudi Arabia has only met with local authorities on April 25, 2017, and did not bother to meet with the detained five Pakistani transvestites. They said though these five detained transvestites are in dire need of legal assistance, however, there is no legal assistance fund in Pakistan’s embassies and missions abroad to provide help and assistance to detained overseas Pakistanis.
Taking cognizance of the matter, Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights has now unanimously recommended the establishment of a legal assistance fund to help assist overseas Pakistanis, facing criminal cases abroad. The Senate body directed the ministry of foreign affairs to submit a detailed report about the actual reason behind the death of a Pakistani transvestite Muhammad Amin Azim in police custody in Saudi Arabia along with the updated status of five Pakistani transvestites detained in a Saudi jail.
It is relevant to mention here that Riyadh (Saudi) police raided a rest house on February 27, 2017, and arrested 35 Pakistani nationals, including few transvestites, for organising dance parties at a rest house on a commercial basis, without obtaining NOC from local authorities. They were charged with the spreading “immorality” and “sodomy”.
According to Ministry of Foreign affairs, the police authorities (Saudi) informed that the 35 Pakistani nationals were caught red-handed while doing “immoral things”. At the time of arrest, the police (Riyadh) also found multiple female dresses, makeup items, etc. Moreover, 24 out of 35 arrested were released within three days of the arrest after carrying out a preliminary investigation, while five more were also released.
It is worth mentioning here that Saudi police has released all 29 detained Pakistanis except six transvestites. Out of these six transvestites, Muhammad Amin Azim died in Saudi police custody while remaining five transvestites are still in a Saudi jail, awaiting legal help. So far, Pakistan’s Embassy in Saudi Arabia has denied any legal help to the detained Pakistani transvestites and did not even meet with them despite the passage of two months to their arrests in the KSA.
