ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has contacted Interpol to issue red warrant for former ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani, for not appearing before the court in the Memogate case, however the latter has said that such letters have no standing in the international law.
According to reports, the Interpol has been contacted after the Ministry of Interior’s approval.
Earlier on February 15, the Supreme Court issued arrest warrants for Hussain Haqqani.
The SC had directed Haqqani to appear in the Memogate case but the latter failed to comply with the court orders.
Commenting on the FIA letter to Interpol, Haqqani said in a statement that such letters are regularly written by Pakistani authorities to generate news in the Pakistani media and have no standing in international law.
“I have not been charged with any crime, am the target of political persecution because of views I have expressed in my books and other writings, and do not expect any action by Interpol or any other international institution. The fate of this latest exercise will be the same as that of letters written to Interpol in the past with regard to other political cases. Just as Interpol refused to comply with Pakistani requests relating to Mr. Altaf Husain, Mr. Brahamdagh Bugti, and General Pervez Musharraf, I expect this latest request to be turned down as well. Pakistani judiciary and law enforcement has lost all respect internationally. It is time for Pakistan to stop protecting internationally recognized terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim, Siraj Haqqani and Masood Azhar instead of using legal devices for domestic propaganda against dissidents and political critics.”
The Memogate scandal erupted in 2011 when Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed to have received an ‘anti-army’ memo from Haqqani for the then-US joint chiefs chairman Admiral Mike Mullen.
In this regard, a court notice has already been issued to Haqqani and other respondents of the case — including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The scandal, taken to the Supreme Court by then opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, led to Haqqani’s resignation.
The cases pertaining to the Memogate were registered under Sections 120b (hatching a criminal conspiracy) and 121a (waging a war against Pakistan) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Earlier, the chief justice had summoned details of the Memogate case while hearing a case related to the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis.