A local court remanded US citizen Mathew Barret for 14 days in judicial custody on Friday.
During the proceedings today, the investigation officer told the court that the official at the consulate who gave Barret a Pakistan visa should be interrogated. The defence alleged that the Federal Investigation Agency had been bribed and was unable to produce any witnesses. The FIA on Saturday arrested an American citizen, who was blacklisted over espionage of nuclear installations in Pakistan, upon his entry to Islamabad. Mathew Craig Barret, a US citizen, was blacklisted and deported from Pakistan in 2011 on his objectionable activities.
The US citizen was later arrested from a guesthouse from the capital city the same day upon his entry into Islamabad. In a statement to the court Barret stated that he had arrived in Pakistan on visa issued by Pakistani Consulate in Houston. About his previous visit, Mathew said he had arrived in Pakistan to visit his in-laws. He denied the charges of being a spy, saying he was not involved in such activities.
Matter of fact, our Embassies and consulates all around the world are full with political apppintees and relatives of high-ups. Number of times the staff has laid down us with activities unbecoming of a diplomatic member – like involved in drug smuggling etc. If the foreign office starts to comb the staff, they will find many unfit to represent the country abroad. Why blame Mathew ?
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