The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday sought comments from the Foreign Office (FO) in relation to a petition challenging the blacklisting of over 200 Pakistanis residing in Greece. Earlier, the judge had issued notices to FO through its Director General Europe and Director to Europe (Greece) in Islamabad but they failed to submit their replies.
The petition was filed by a lawyer Altaf Rahim along with two of the blacklisted Pakistan originated Greeks Mian Manzoor Hussain and Mian Manzoor. Petitioner said that after July 7, 2005 London bomb blasts 28 innocent Pakistanis were abducted by foreign agencies in Greece. They contacted to Pakistan embassy in Athens but found no support from there.
Later, President Pakistani Community Unity Greece Aslam Arain filed a petition in Superior Court (SC) Athens seeking recovery of missing Pakistanis. The SC took serious notice of the matter and got the missing Pakistani peoples recovered from the custody of different foreign agencies and two ministers of Greece government resigned from their offices.
Feeling frustrated and Greece government pressurised Pakistani ambassador in Athens to take action against the representatives of Pakistani Community Unity and also offered bribe to change its stance, petitioner said. Petitioner alleged that ambassador in Athens Rashid Saleem, instead of supporting his community and the recovered missing peoples started pressurising them to give statements in favour of Greek government but failed.
Later, petitioner alleged, Rashid Saleem got a number of Pakistani peoples living in Greece involved in fake cases and Interpol red warrants were also arranged and Aslam Arain, the elected representative of Pakistani community, was arrested.
However on the intervention of different human rights organisation Aslam was released, petitioner added. He further alleged that the then Pakistani ambassador Rashid Saleem and First Secretary Manzoor Ahmad in Athens blacklisted about 279 Pakistanis without holding any inquiry or any cogent reason just to teach them lesson.
These blacklisted Pakistanis were deported to Pakistan and arrested by FIA, however, the Lahore High Court had declared innocent them. Petitioner said despite being declared innocent by the court the authorities were not allowing these Pakistanis to go Greece again to earn their livelihood. Petitioner prayed to the court to direct the Foreign Office to issue Clearance Certificate to these Pakistanis enabling them to work abroad.
He further sought directions for FIA and other law enforcing agencies to act strictly in accordance with law. He also requested the court to direct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send a high-powered commission in Greece for detailed inquiry of the matter.