Islamabad accountability court seeks details on possible jail hearing of Al-Qadir Trust case against Imran

By: Inter News on November 14, 2023 / comment : 0 NEWS, The Dawn News - Home

An Islamabad accountability court on Tuesday sought details from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) if a notification had been issued for a jail hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case against former prime minister Imran Khan.

The PTI chairman was first arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9, which led to violent protests countrywide. He was released two days later after the Supreme Court deemed his arrest unlawful.

In August, the PTI chief was jailed after he was convicted in the Toshakhana case. Although his sentence was suspended on Aug 29, Imran remained in jail because he was on judicial remand in the cipher case.

While Imran is already imprisoned in Adiala Jail in the cipher case, he was also put under arrest yesterday by the NAB in the Al-Qadir Trust case and the Toshakhana reference.

Today, Judge Mohammad Bashir presided over the hearing. At the outset of the proceedings, he asked the NAB prosecutor when he planned to present the former premier before the court.

He also inquired whether Imran was still in jail or had been shifted to NAB’s office, to which the prosecutor answered that it was not in his knowledge.

Judge Bashir then ordered the prosecutor to inquire about the matter and also if there had been a notification issued regarding the jail trial of the former prime minister.

When reporters, who were in the courtroom inquired about the case, the judge replied that only NAB could tell where the PTI chairman would be presented. When asked about the jail trial, the judge observed that if a notification for the same had been issued, the hearing would be held in Adiala jail.

Judge Bashir also asked if the reporters would go to the jail for coverage, to which they replied that they were not allowed to enter the jail for reporting.

At this, the judge remarked, “There should be permission. This is why open courts exist. If there is a jail trial, then we will also do something about you all. Can’t we give [reporters] any [entry] pass, etc?”

The reporters agreed they should be given access to cover trial proceedings while the judge noted, “This is the benefit of an open court that whatever the witness is saying, everyone can hear for themselves.”

Trial court to record witness testimonies in cipher case

Meanwhile, the special court presided over a hearing of the trial proceedings against Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case.

The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.

The former premier and his aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were indicted in the case on Oct 23. They have pleaded not guilty.

The IHC has endorsed Imran’s indictment, disposing of his plea against the same, but had also instructed the special court judge to ensure a “fair trial”.

In the previous hearing, the special court had recorded the statements of three prosecution witnesses in the cipher case.

Today, Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain presided over the hearing, which was conducted at the Adiala district jail.

Prior to the hearing, the PTI leaders’ legal teams and relatives as well as the FIA’s team reached the jail.

Barrister Salman Safdar, Umair Niazi, Sikander Zulqarnain and Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry appeared as Imran’s counsels while Barrister Taimur Malik and Faiza Shah were among Qureshi’s lawyers.

Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi and Shah Khawar were among the prosecutors who appeared before the trial court.

Limited family members of both the accused were allowed to attend the hearing today as they were permitted to do so during the previous hearing.

The former foreign minister’s daughters Gauhar Bano and Mehr Bano, as well as the ex-premier’s sisters Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khanum and Naureen Khanum, reached the Adaila Jail to attend the hearing.

Both the PTI leaders were present in the courtroom, where the testimonies of the state witnesses would be recorded and the defence counsels would present their arguments.

As Israel continues to bomb Gaza, one man waits for stray animals to come out of hiding every day

By: Inter News on November 13, 2023 / comment : 0 NEWS, The Dawn News - Home

As soon as the roars of Israeli warplanes echo across the skies of the coastal enclave, hundreds of stray animals dart for safety, terrified and shaking in fear.

“The dogs recognise the sound of the planes right before the bomb drops when the sound of the plane changes, and they all start to cry … they are just as scared as humans,” Annelies Keuleers, a volunteer at the Sulala Animal Rescue — the Gaza Strip’s first and only charity rescuing abandoned animals — tells Dawn.com.

Most stray animals are hiding all day, she says, but when they do come out, Saeed Al Err is always there waiting for them with food and water.

The 51-year-old Palestinian, founder of the Sulala Animal Rescue, has been rescuing stray animals in the enclave for almost two decades, and even now, amid relentless bombing. His shelter in Gaza City houses 400 dogs and over 100 cats.

“After the Israeli army issued the evacuation warning, Saeed managed to move all the cats to an apartment in the south,” says Keuleers, who has been in constant contact with Saeed over the phone.

However, she continues, Saeed is unable to leave the area now as he has run out of fuel and hence cannot reach the dog shelter.

Adel, one of two Sulala employees, was previously feeding and visiting the dog shelter but he has now moved to a school with his family. “He says he has left 30 bags of dog food with small openings, barrels of water, and access to his house,” Keuleers adds.

Saeed plans to visit the shelter as soon as there is a ceasefire, and also hopes he can travel north to rescue the wounded animals there.

“Saeed is okay with risking his life for animals but he also knows there is no use to him if he is dead. So at this moment, he is doing what he can in the circumstances he is in,” the Sulala volunteer says.

For now, he tends to his cats and all the wounded animals people bring to him, ranging from birds to donkeys and horses. He is also feeding stray animals in his area.

Life before Oct 7

Sulala, Arabic for ‘animal breeds’, was established and registered in 2006. “Saeed then opened a Facebook page in Arabic which gained followers over time and also volunteers,” Keuleers says.

Initially, Saeed and his volunteers used to feel stray animals and rescue the wounded ones. Finally, in 2019, he got a piece of land from the municipality and built a shelter there for dogs.

The shelter is about the size of a football field with a courtyard and shelter where the animals can sleep, the volunteer says. At first, Saeed took the rescued cats home but as the numbers grew, he rented two apartments — with each of his sons living in one.

Before October 7, the biggest of Saeed’s worries was managing to attend to the numerous calls he got in a day.

“He wasn’t able to take all of them and it really hurt him. A lot of people also approached him with pets they didn’t want to keep anymore, but he had to say sorry to them,” Keuleers tells Dawn.com.

She adds that apart from the dogs and cats, Saeed also used to take care of sheep, sea turtles, donkeys, birds, and horses.

“Before the war, he was just busy all day, he was out taking new cases … his job was organising the cases, following up on the numbers coming in … often 20 animals a day, which he felt wasn’t enough,” the volunteer recalls.

Saeed used to have two employees, but one of them was killed on Oct 7, Keuleers says.

Previously, Saeed also made headlines for using parts of toys and kids’ bicycles to build mobility devices for disabled cats and dogs.

Apart from Sulala, Four Paws — an international animal welfare organisation — has also worked for animals in the besieged strip. Over the last few years, the organisation has evacuated and closed down two zoos in Al-Bisan and Khan Younis.

However, they are currently unable to provide any help for animals on site due to the unpredictability of the situation in Gaza.

“We will closely monitor further developments and will evaluate together with the responsible people if and how we can help going forward,” Four Paws’ head of public relations told Dawn.com.

“We keep the affected people and animals in our thoughts during this difficult time,” she added.

‘War is horror for everyone’

Dawn.com was unable to talk to Saeed because of the mobile and internet outages in Gaza. But in an interview with Insider in 2021, the 51-year-old described how life is for animals in the strip.

“They are poor souls who have a very difficult life in Gaza,” Saeed had said. “I think they have more love and kindness in them than humans … I don’t want them to be in the street where they can get abused or hit by cars or shot. They get mistreated.”

“War is horror,” he had told Insider, “for both animals and humans.”

In another interview with The Guardian last year, Saeed hoped to be able to open a specialised hospital that serves all animals.

“I wish to have fully equipped shelters and to raise awareness among all people regarding animals,” he had said.

Saeed had told The Guardian that out of the hundreds of animals he had rescued over the years, his favourite was a cat named Minwer.

“At the end of long days, I arrive home and Minwer is waiting for me. If I cover myself with a blanket to stay warm, he will tap my hand to lift the blanket so he can join me. I dream that one day all animals will find a safe space like Minwer,” he had said.

Find details here if you want to donate to Sulala Animal Rescue.

All 40 workers in India tunnel collapse ‘safe’

By: Inter News on November 13, 2023 / comment : 0 NEWS, The Dawn News - Home

Rescue workers in northern India said on Monday they had made contact with 40 workers trapped for over 24 hours after the road tunnel they were building collapsed.

“All the 40 workers trapped inside the tunnel are safe,” Karamveer Singh Bhandari, a senior commander in the National Disaster Response Force told AFP, from the site in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

“We sent them water and food,” Bhandari said.

The collapse occurred early on Sunday morning, with rescue teams using heavy excavators to clear piles of debris in desperate efforts to reach the 40 men.

Oxygen was being pumped into the blocked portion of the tunnel, with food sent through a water pipe. Initial contact was made via a note on a scrap of paper, but later rescuers managed to connect using radio handsets.

“Some small food packets were sent in through a pipe which is also taking oxygen inside,” rescue official Durgesh Rathodi told AFP from the site.

Rathodi said excavators had removed about 20 metres of heavy debris, but the men were 40 metres beyond that point.

“Due to excess debris in the tunnel, we are facing some difficulty in the rescue, but our team is leaving no stone unturned,” Bhandari added.

‘Bring them out safely’

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who on Monday flew to the site of the accident, said the work to remove the tons of tumbled concrete debris was “being made continuously to bring them out safely”, he wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“Contact has been made with the workers trapped in the tunnel through a walkie-talkie,” he said.

“Efforts are being made to get them out safely soon,” he added.

One rescue worker, quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency, said the men were contacted shortly after midnight on Monday.

Disaster response official Devendra Patwal said that while the men were trapped, they had space in the tunnel area where they were.

“The good thing is that the labourers are not crammed in, and have a buffer of around 400 metres to walk and breathe,” Patwal told the Indian Express newspaper.

The 4.5 kilometre tunnel is being constructed between Silkyara and Dandalgaon to connect two of the holiest Hindu shrines of Uttarkashi and Yamunotri.

Photographs released by the government rescue teams showed huge piles of rubble blocking the wide tunnel, with twisted metal bars on its broken roof poking down in front of the rubble.

The tunnel is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham Road Project, which is meant to improve connectivity for some of the most popular Hindu shrines in the country, as well as areas bordering China.

Accidents on large infrastructure construction sites are common in India.

In January, at least 200 people were killed in flash floods in ecologically fragile Uttarakhand in a disaster that experts partly blamed on excessive development.

At least 40 Indian workers trapped in tunnel collapse: rescue worker

By: Inter News on November 12, 2023 / comment : 0 NEWS, The Dawn News - Home

At least 40 construction workers were trapped on Sunday after the road tunnel they were building collapsed in northern India, with rescuers scrambling to reach them beneath piles of debris.

The collapse occurred early on Sunday morning in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand when a group of workers were moving out and replacement workers were going in.

“About 200 metres (218 yards) of the tunnel have collapsed,” Durgesh Rathodi, a state disaster response official, told AFP from the site.

“About 40 to 41 workers are trapped inside. Oxygen is being supplied through the debris, but more rubble is coming down as rescuers try to remove the obstruction,” he said.

The 4.5 kilometre-long tunnel is being constructed between Silkyara and Dandalgaon to connect two of the holiest Hindu shrines of Uttarkashi and Yamnotri.

Photographs released by the government rescue teams showed huge piles of concrete blocking the wide tunnel, with twisted metal bars on its broken roof poking down in front of the rubble.

“Pray to god that those workers trapped inside the tunnel are brought out safely,” Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami wrote on social media platform X.

Accidents on large infrastructure construction sites are common in India.

‘Not one more child!’: Ceasefire calls echo across the globe as Israel continues bombardment of Gaza

By: Inter News on November 12, 2023 / comment : 0 NEWS, The Dawn News - Home

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have poured onto the streets across the world in support of Palestinians, condemning the Israeli’s aggression in the Gaza Strip and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

More than 11,000 Palestinians have lost their lives since Israel started its ruthless bombardment campaign on the besieged enclave over a month ago in response to Hamas’ surprise attack.

Israel has put Gaza — home to 2.3 million people — under siege amid ongoing ground battles with Hamas. In the last few days, more than 20,000 Palestinians have been forced to relocate to the south of the strip as Israeli forces have laid siege on major hospitals in the enclave.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have prompted protests in various countries including England, Indonesia, Spain and others.

Indonesia

England

Spain

Australia

Ireland

Egypt

Argentina

Belgium

Header image: Demonstrators carry placards reading “Not one more child! Enough of genocide!” during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people, in Barcelona on November 11, 2023. — AFP

Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah picked as caretaker KP CM: Mahmood Khan

By: Inter News on November 12, 2023 / comment : 0 NEWS, The Dawn News - Home

Retired Justice Arshad Hussain Shah was on Sunday picked as the caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a day after ex-CM Azam Khan passed away following a brief illness.

Former PTI leader Mahmood Khan, who was a constitutional consultee in the initial appointment of the caretaker chief minister, confirmed the development to Dawn.com.

The decision was taken after Mahmood and opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani held a meeting for consultations on the appointment of the new caretaker CM.

“We agreed on the name of Justice Arshad Hussain Shah,” Mahmood said, adding that the same will now be sent to the governor for approval.

On Saturday, KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali had sent a letter to Mahmood and Durrani, inviting them to begin the consultation process under Article 224(1A) of the Constitution for the next chief minister’s appointment.

In separate letters, the governor had said he was under constitutional obligation to call upon them. He added that as per the Constitution, the process should be completed in three days.

Shah was appointed as the law minister in former CM Azam Khan’s cabinet earlier this year. Previously, he also served as the chief justice of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Legal conundrum

Azam Khan’s demise has stirred a debate as to how a new caretaker chief executive of the province would be appointed since there are no explicit constitutional provisions about procedures to be adopted in such a scenario.

Articles 224 and 224-A provide a mechanism for the initial appointment of a caretaker chief minister after the dissolution of a provincial assembly, but these provisions are silent about procedures to be adopted in case of the death or resignation of an incumbent.

Similarly, the Elections Act 2017 provides for the functions of a caretaker government but has no provision to deal with the present situation.

Some legal minds believe that the same mechan­ism that has been enshrined in Article 224 and Article 224-A can be adopted for the new appointment, but a former secretary of the Election Commi­ssion of Pakistan begs to differ.

According to Kanwar Dilshad, as the assemblies no longer exist, the Senate is empowered to decide in such an emergency.

“If Senate fails to agree on a name then the matter will be referred to the ECP,” Dilshad told reporters. If the leader of the house and the leader of opposition in the Senate failed to agree on a name, then the matter would be referred to the ECP.

The situation has turned further complicated as the then CM Mahmood Khan, who was a constitutional consultee in the initial appointment of the caretaker chief minister, has alre­ady left the former ruling party.

“This is an unprecedented case, as the slot of the caretaker chief minister has never before fallen vacant,” said former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general Shumail Ahmad Butt.

He contested the opinion shared by the ex-ECP official, saying the same mechanism as provided in articles 224 and 224-A needed to be adopted in this case as well.

Butt, who is a constitutional lawyer, said that now under Article 224 of the Constitution, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor should appoint the new caretaker chief minister in consultation with the chief minister and leader of the opposition in the dissolved provincial assembly.

As per Article 224-A, in case of a disagreement between the CM and the opposition leader, the two forward two names each to a committee of the provincial assembly to be constituted by the speaker. If disagreements persist then the matter is referred to the ECP.

When asked about the then chief minister Mahmood Khan no longer being a PTI member, he said the Constitution had not placed a bar that a CM not commanding majority in the dissolved assembly should not be consulted.

Senior lawyer Babar Khan Yousafzai said a constitutional crisis had emerged after the demise of Mr Azam as, with the death, his caretaker cabinet also stood dissolved.

“Articles 224 and 224-A of the Constitution provide for nomination/appointment of a caretaker chief minister but there is complete silence about the procedure to be followed in case of his death,” he said. “It is a case of first impression and the burden will now be on courts to interpret the constitutional provisions,” he added.

On the other hand, Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi had said there was no room for speculation.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said after the caretaker CM’s demise “the governor, chief secretary and the provincial government shall perform their duties accordingly”.

More to follow

Microsoft chief says Russia is spreading Middle East disinformation

By: Inter News on November 11, 2023 / comment : 0 NEWS, The Dawn News - Home

Russia has been spreading “disinformation” about the situation in the Middle East, the president of Microsoft said on Saturday, as tensions soar in the region due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Brad Smith, Microsoft vice chair and president, was asked about the role of the US tech giant in promoting peace at an international peace forum in Paris.

He said that Microsoft and its competitors were fighting against disinformation, in particular by using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Smith said that Microsoft and other companies are doing this “by creating technological tools that facilitate the detection of manipulated, modified, altered content,” according to remarks translated in French by Radio France Inter.

“We are getting very good at identifying a Russian campaign, like when they tried to tell people not to get the Covid vaccine,” he said.

“Or today, when we see Russian disinformation in the Middle East,” he added.

He said the three options facing technology platforms that identify this kind of disinformation are to do nothing, delete it, or re-label it and flag the content has been modified.

“There is no societal consensus about what companies should do,” Smith added.

The Paris Peace Forum opened against a backdrop of proliferating conflict around the world, and more than a month into the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Since Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7 — in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 239 taken hostage — Israel has bombarded Gaza relentlessly and sent in ground troops.

The Palestinian territory’s health ministry says more than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza, many of them children.

In an interview with the BBC on the fringes of the peace forum on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the Hamas attacks but called on Israel to stop bombing civilians in Gaza, saying there was “no justification” and the deaths were causing “resentment”.