LAHORE: A contempt of court petition against the federal government for deporting a Turkish couple— which had gone ‘missing’ late last month—was accepted by the Lahore High Court on Tuesday.
The court had restrained the government from deporting Kacmaz and his family till the decision of the case and to place their names on the Exit Control List. Kacmaz was associated with the Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges system in Pakistan.
However, reportedly law enforcement agency picked up Mesut Kacmaz and his wife, along with their two daughters from their WAPDA Town residence on September 27, and deported them back to Turkey on Saturday.
The couple’s daughters ─ Huda Nur (17) and Fatima Huma ─ had informed a former regional director of the Pak-Turk schools of the deportation.
The daughters’ had said that their parents were handed over to a Turkish police team which came to Islamabad by a special plane. Later, the girls had left for Turkey by a regular flight via Karachi.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the petitioner’s lead counsel, Asma Jahangir, argued that the deportation amounted to contempt of court as it had taken place in violation of the court’s orders.
Subsequently, the court accepted the contempt of court petition and issued notices to the Interior Ministry secretary.
The Civil Aviation Authority was also asked to submit details regarding the transfer of the Turkish couple from Islamabad to Turkey.
Following the hearing, Asma Jahangir spoke to the media and said that the couple was deported to Turkey without their passports.
“The law of the jungle has prevailed in Pakistan,” Jahangir said, adding that one ruler was focused on making another happy.
After the failed coup in July last year, the Turkish government had sought the closure of Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges for being associated with Fethullah Gulen’s movement called Hizmet.
As many as 32 Pak-Turk schools and colleges were running in Pakistan. After the Turkish government had demanded the closure of the schools, an NGO of Pakistan had started operating these schools and colleges.
As many as 115 Turk nationals were performing at different positions in these educational institutions and more than 11,000 Pakistanis were studying in the school chain.
So far, 30 Turk families have been deported from Pakistan and more than 70 are still here on the UNHCR asylum certificate.
