News Analysis |
Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States (US), Husain Haqqani, was booked in First Investigation Reports (FIR) in three different police stations of Kohat on Sunday. Haqqani is accused of hate speech and writing books and articles against Pakistan’s armed forces and endangering the sovereignty of Pakistan.
The FIRs have been lodged in Cantt station, City station and Bilitang station in Kohat. The three FIRs were registered by Momin, Muhammad Asghar and Shamsul Haq. “Two books have been written by Husain Haqqani against Pakistan,” the FIR states. Another FIR claimed that Haqqani is the mentor of the ‘Memogate scandal’.
Pakistan and the US have an extradition treaty and if the case is followed, Pakistan might try to summon Haqqani back to Pakistan but looking at the past records of extradition in Pakistan, the chances that Haqqani will be extradited look very slim.
Sections 120B (devising a criminal conspiracy) and Section 121A (waging a war against Pakistan) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) were applied in the FIRs against Hussain Haqqani. The complainants said that Haqqani has caused irreparable damage to Pakistan. A police official asked Haqqani to surrender or he’ll be declared an absconder by the Pakistani government.
Read more: US urges Pakistan to move against Haqqani network
Husain Haqqani was Pakistan’s ambassador to the US from 2008 to 2011 during Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) government. He was forced to resign when the ‘Memogate scandal’ was made public. The memogate scandal was about a message written to the US Admiral Mike Mullen, in the message, a request was made to the Admiral to intervene in Pakistan in an attempt to undermine Pakistan’s military.
The complainants said that Haqqani has caused irreparable damage to Pakistan. A police official asked Haqqani to surrender or he’ll be declared an absconder by the Pakistani government.
Haqqani was declared a traitor by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in June 2012. Last year, on 10th March 2017, Haqqani wrote an article in the Washington Post, an American daily newspaper, confessing that he assisted the US Special Operations and Intelligence personnel to station in Pakistan. He also confessed that the PPP-led government in the centre was aware of the operation against Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, even though the military was kept in the dark.
Read more: Husain Haqqani: An opportunist turncoat!
The FIRs have been filed one year after his controversial article was written. Haqqani has already declared that he will not come back to Pakistan, citing threats to his life. The repercussions of these FIRs are unclear, since Haqqani is already a persona non grata in Pakistan; it is unlikely that these FIRs would make any difference.
Pakistan and the US have an extradition treaty and if the case is followed, Pakistan might try to summon Haqqani back to Pakistan but looking at the past records of extradition in Pakistan, the chances that Haqqani will be extradited look very slim.