Islamabad, Jan 2 (IANS) Pakistani lawyer Asma Jehangir has refused to represent former envoy to the US Husain Haqqani in the memo case, saying she has ‘no confidence’ in the judicial commission formed by the apex court to probe the scandal.
‘I quit as Haqqani’s lawyer but my client will pursue his case,’ Jehangir told the daily Dawn Sunday. ‘This is the court’s order and we have to follow it, but I told (Haqqani) to engage some other lawyer.’
The commission was expected to hold its first meeting Monday in the Islamabad High Court building.
It had sent notices to seven people, including Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Maj. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Husain Haqqani, Asma Jehangir and Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to appear before it.
Mansoor Ijaz claims to have delivered a memo to the then US military chief Gen Mike Mullen last year at the behest of Haqqani and the Pakistani government to avert a military coup.
A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court last Friday formed a commission to probe how and at whose behest was the memo was delievered to the US military chief, kicking in a scandal which generated much heat in Pakistan.
The commission is headed by Balochistan High Court’s Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Chief justices of Islamabad and Sindh high courts are also its members.
Jehangir, a noted human rights activist, accused the apex court judges of acting as acolytes of the establishment. ‘If nine judges of the Supreme Court can be (under their influence), then I am sorry to say I cannot have any expectations from the high court judges.’
‘Should we close our eyes? Should we allow ourselves to be fooled? I have told my client he can appear before the commission if he wants to, and he will go. I have no confidence at all (in the commission),’ Dawn quoted Jehangir as saying.
