14-year-old Rizwana, who was allegedly beaten up by a civil judge and his wife in Islamabad, has not fully recovered yet. She is neither able to talk much nor walk properly.
Islamabad Police recorded Rizwana’s statement at the Child Protection Bureau in Lahore where she alleged that the judge himself beat her up, hitting her head against the wall, while his wife and children would also assault her, adding that they should be treated in the same manner.
Talking to Geo News, Rizwana said that she was beaten with sticks and bats, stabbed with knives, and the judge would shove her head into a wall.
Child Protection Bureau Punjab Chairperson Sarah Ahmed said that the Islamabad Police has recorded Rizwana’s statement while her legal team was also present at the time.
She said that before the statement, Rizwana was told to not panic, and to not change her statement on anyone’s advice.
Case
Rizwana had been allegedly tortured and abused while working at a civil judge’s home in Islamabad, after she was accused of stealing jewellery. Rizwana’s family revealed that the girl was not paid a single penny by the family for the extensive workload she was doing and was instead subjected to violence.
The Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) took a significant step on Thursday by submitting a list to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) committee, outlining its demands for seat adjustment ahead of the upcoming elections.
The IPP is pushing for seat adjustments in 45 constituencies of the Punjab Assembly and 27 constituencies of the National Assembly.
The deliberations unfolded during a joint meeting of the committees from both parties, hosted at the residence of former Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq. The meeting saw the participation of prominent PML-N figures including Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Atta Tarar, and Malik Ahmed Khan, while IPP was represented by Ishaq Khakwani, Aun Chaudhary and Nauman Langriyal.
The discussions primarily revolved around seat adjustments for the National Assembly constituencies, with the IPP formally handing over its list to the PML-N committee. Both parties explored various options during the joint meeting, demonstrating a commitment to finding common ground.
IPP has decided to field Jahangir Tareen from Lodhran, Aleem Khan and Aun Chaudhry from Lahore, Farrukh Habib from Faisalabad, Ghulam Sarwar Khan from Taxila, Aamir Kiyani and Ali Nawaz Awan from Islamabad, Firdous Ashiq Awan from Sialkot and Imran Ismail, Mahmood Maulvi will be party’s candidates from PML-N.
Both parties agreed to continue talks on seat adjustment while another meeting is scheduled for Friday.
The season of blinding fog has officially arrived in Punjab, complete with signs of restricted movement.
M-2 route from Lahore to Kot Momin, M-3 from Faizpur to Darkhana, M-4 from Shamkot to Pindi Bhattian, and M-5 from Sher Shah to Zahir Peer were closed due to low visibility, reports Geo.
Routes between Lahore and Sialkot is closed due to heavy fog whereas a section between Gojra and Faisalabad is also blocked for the same reason.
The situation of smog is also an added factor in low visibility all over Punjab where Lahore still stands at number two in the air quality index with very unhealthy levels of air.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday resumed the hearing of a plea filed by former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and ordered him to nominate former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief General Faiz Hamid and others in the plea against his dismissal.
A five-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa heard the case. The other members of the bench are Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi.
The proceedings were broadcast live on the apex court’s website as well as on its YouTube channel.
Lawyer Hamid Khan represented the former IHC judge in the case.
Siddiqui has filed a miscellaneous application with the Supreme Court along with the case related to his dismissal from office.
The former judge has requested to make former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI head Faiz Hameed parties in the case related to his suspension.
Ex IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui has made ex army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa , ex DG ISI Faiz Hameed etc as respondents in his petition challenging his removal by SJC. Will SC issue notice to ex army chief tomorrow ( Friday) ?? pic.twitter.com/xX5k774Me3
The case was fixed for hearing earlier this month after the judge filed a miscellaneous application with the Supreme Court to conduct an early hearing of his plea against the decision by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on his dismissal.
Order
The SC order, issued by the bench, mentioned that allegations were levelled against some personalities who were not present at the case’s hearing. It added that those accused in the case must be made parties.
“How will he, who is not a party, present his position in front of the court?” the order read.
The order also mentioned that the bench will not be available to hear the petition from Monday due to winter vacations.
The case
President Arif Alvi on October 11, 2018, removed Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council (SCJ).
The president took the decision under Article 209(5)on the SJC recommendation under Article 209(6) read with Article 48(1) of the Constitution, a notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice stated.
The council unanimously opined that while delivering the speech before the District Bar Association in Rawalpindi on July 21, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, an IHC judge, displayed conduct unbecoming of a high court judge.
Judges on the panel included: Then Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmad, Lahore High Court’s Chief Justice Yawar Ali, and Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh.
Justice Khosa said that the judge in question chose to address a meeting of the district bar association, Rawalpindi on July 21 at a time when many inquiries were pending against him before the SJC under Article 209.
In his speech, Siddiqui accused the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of manipulating judicial proceedings, especially in the Panamagate case.
The ex-judge had submitted a plea against the Supreme Judicial Council’s (SJC) decision to dismiss him after a complaint was filed against him for inflammatory speeches.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ex-chairman Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, has expressed concern that her brother might get the death penalty in the cipher case, as per a report of The News on Thursday.
Speaking to journalists outside Adiala jail, Aleema Khan said that she has doubts on the former prime minister’s trial as she can’t see justice being served.
A day earlier, a special court established under the official secret act indicted Imran Khan and PTI’s vice president Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a cypher case.
While discussing her brother’s trial, Aleema mentioned that cubicles had been made, and she couldn’t understand the reason for that.
“Our entire family was in the courtroom, and it was locked from outside,” she said, adding that they were chased and threatened when they were coming for hearing.
“We have no fear, but there can be no fair trial without the media,” she said, adding that journalists were not being allowed to attend the trial.
“It seems that we are not in our country but in some other country. It is very sad to see what is happening to us in our own country,” she added.
The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution on Friday, December 8, backed by almost all other Security Council members and dozens of other nations, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. In this emergency meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99, a rare move to force a vote on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, where two million people are displaced and more than 18,000 people have been killed.
Calls are growing for the UN Security Council to be reformed after the US used its veto power to block a Gaza ceasefire resolution, a move welcomed by Israeli PM Netanyahu ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/MvnplAht8z
The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining.
The US is facing criticism from all over the world and domestic backlash, but there is a way to sign a petition to appeal to the respective ambassador to the UN asking them to invoke article 377 A to get around the US Veto and call for a permanent ceasefire.
What is Article 377 A?
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 377 A is known as the ‘Uniting for Peace Resolution’ states that in any case where the Security Council, because of a lack of unanimity among its five permanent members (P5) fails to act as required to maintain international security and peace, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately and may issue appropriate recommendations to the UN members for collective measures, including the use of armed forces when necessary, to maintain or restore international security and peace.
Using social media is effective but there are other concrete ways to invoke Article 377 A.
EVERYONE: write to your country’s UN Ambassador and demand that they invoke UNGA resolution 377A to get around the US Veto and call for a permanent ceasefire. You can find a template letter here https://t.co/sfH8WMUjdo then post and tag your country’s ambassador online. pic.twitter.com/DX3auIZw70
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) former chairman Imran Khan and the party’s vice chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were indicted again in the cipher case on Wednesday.
A special court established under the Official Secret Act 2023 indicted both PTI leaders with Judge Abdul Hasnat Zulqarnain announcing the decision.
Both leaders were found guilty of misusing a diplomatic cable issued by the Pakistan embassy in Washington DC for political purposes.
During the hearing, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Special Prosecutors Shah Khawar and Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi appeared in court, while Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were represented by their lawyers.
The regular trial of the cipher case against the former prime minister and ex-foreign minister will begin in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
A hearing was also held on Tuesday, where family members of PTI leaders were also present. Some journalists were also present to witness the proceedings.
Earlier, after Khan and Qureshi challenged their indictment in the case, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared their jail trial “null and void” while allowing intra-court appeals in the case.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Wednesday that a delay of a few days in the general election will not make any difference. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari also made the same statement a few days earlier.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said in an interview that there is no issue if the delay of a few days in the election can help in conducting free and fair polls.
Earlier this week, the PPP co-chairman also said that there is no issue with a delay of about 10 days.
The JUI-F head also said that he is not backing any political agenda while demanding a delay in the polls, asking that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should consider all the concerns, including the weather conditions in high-altitude regions.
Postponement of elections also occurred after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and it’s a valid reason for people to accept a delay in polls, he added.
Maulana also warned that his party would come out on the streets and protest if the election were postponed indefinitely.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday acquitted former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference, the biggest hurdle in the way of him contesting in the general elections. The only obstacle now for the former prime minister to contest an election is his lifetime disqualification as a parliamentarian.
“It is unfortunate that if a former prime minister is facing such sham cases, then [we can’t imagine] what is happening to a common man,” senior lawyer Irfan Qadir told Geo News, calling upon the judges who convicted Nawaz to apologise to the nation.
He also stated that, in response to the contentious Panama verdict, the Supreme Court had directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate legal proceedings against Nawaz by filing references.
Yemen’s Houthi movement has lately attacked and captured a number of Israeli-linked ships crossing through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait — a pathway for the world’s oil shipment.
Among the captured ships was an Israeli-linked cargo ship known as Galaxy Leader.
Yemenis are now utilising the ship as a tourist spot for the locals.
:The Yemenis have turned the captured #Israeli ship into a tourist attraction
Visitors can be seen enjoying themselves as they dance, make videos and take pictures.
Houthis have been targeting Israeli-linked ships following the failure of the international community to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza where more than 18,000 people have been killed because of heavy Israeli attacks and blockade of humanitarian aid.
