Special Court rejects Musharraf plea, seeking documents on 2007 emergency

ISLAMABAD: The special court conducting the treason trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf dismissed his plea seeking documents pertaining to the November 2007 emergency.

Special court registrar Abdul Ghani Soomro read out the detailed verdict which was earlier been reserved.

Rejecting the plea, the court ruled that though it was right of the accused to seek evidence, Musharraf’s plea was premature.

The court said that the accused himself could get the verified copies of the documents from the departments concerned. The court will consider the accused application during the course of hearing if he needed evidence.

The special court said the documents were public property.

Pakistan endorses anti-rape protocol, India rejects

 

LONDON: Pakistan has endorsed the declaration to end sexual violence in conflict zones but India has refused to become part of the ‘International Protocol on the Documentation of Sexual Violence in Conflict’.
Since India didn’t endorse the declaration, it was not invited to the global summit against sexual violence in conflict, which has attracted celebrities and dignitaries like Angelina Jolie, John Kerry and several Nobel Laureates. India knew that it will have to sign the ‘International Protocol on the Documentation of Sexual Violence in Conflict’ and that it will be then asked hard questions over the widespread human rights violations in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan joined 115 other countries here to express its support for the international protocol against the rape of women in conflict zones.“India’s refusal to join the conference and endorse the document means that India has no intention of ending the rape and torture of women in several of its parts, particularly in Kashmir,” a Western delegate told the News here.

The conference has been hosted by the British government and according to the sources, the country tried its best to make India part of the global consensus against sexual violence against women but failed as India refused to engage on this issue. Not only in Kashmir but also in several parts of India, women come under sexual attacks including gang rape, kidnap and sexual torture on daily basis and there has been a speedy spike in cases involving Western women. Several Indian human rights groups have been campaigning against the culture of rape and called on their government to join the international consensus against rape but failed to win over their government.

Although, the mention of Kashmir has been omitted in the summit but Western diplomats and the governments understand that it’s India that is now counted amongst those countries where rape had gained almost epic proportions.

The Pakistani delegation is led by Foreign Affairs Adviser, Sartaj Aziz and Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Central Chairman Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi. Sartaj Aziz attended the event on the last day but Ashrafi attended the event for three days and delivered several speeches explaining the Islamic position on the issue of rape.

Hafiz Ashrafi said that he was pleased to represent the Muslim scholars and clerics at the summit and that no other religion had given women the honour and status that has been bestowed upon them by Islam. He further said that the religion that has prohibited the killing of women during wars could never support the violence against them.

He asked the delegates to work towards ending the conflicts because it is Muslim women who suffer the most in conflict zones. He told the delegates that the Indian held Kashmir has become a forgotten zone where the Indian Army has been raping the Kashmiri women for more than two decades without the world powers taking notice of the horrific crimes.

PM rejects summary to increase petroleum prices

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Saturday directed to maintain the prices of petroleum products at the same level, rejecting recommendations of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to increase the same for next month.

The prime minister issued these directives in a meeting with Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar who called on him.

The finance minister briefed the prime minister on cumulative reduction in POL prices during the last three months.

He informed that the economic policies, stabilization of the value of rupee and increase in the foreign exchange reserves had already resulted in reduction of POL prices in the country.

He informed the prime minister that Ogra has suggested increase in prices of petrol, HSD, LSD and HOBC and decrease in price of kerosene oil for the next month.

The prime minister directed that the prices of the petroleum

products, where Ogra has suggested increase, should be kept at the same level and the decrease in price of kerosene oil will be passed on to the consumers, on recommendation of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The government will provide subsidy amounting Rs1.78 billion to offset the difference in prices of POL products.

After prime minister’s directive, the price of MS (petrol) will remain Rs107.97 per litre, high speed diesel Rs109.34 per litre, light diesel oil Rs94.13 per litre, HOBC Rs134.63 per litre while the prices of kerosene oil will be reduced to Rs97.40 per litre from existing price of Rs98.07 per litre.

However, Ogra had suggested increasing petrol price to Rs109.28 per litre, high speed diesel Rs111.15 per litre, light diesel oil Rs95.14 per litre, HOBC Rs137.12 per litre and decrease of kerosene oil price to Rs97.40 per litre.

Ulema rejects allegations against Jang Group/ Geo

KARACHI: Lauding Jang Group Services for the country, Ulema and religious scholars dubbed allegations against the country’s largest media group as violation of religious and ethical norms.

Mufi Naeem of Jamia Binoria said that the Jang Group’s record of 75 years shows it stood by nation whenever it stuck in any difficult situation.

Tehreek-e-Ahle Hadith chief Prof Younis Siddiqui said the Jang and Geo policies filled people’s hearts with the love for Pakistan.

Chief of Idara Tanzeemul Makatib Allama Syed Razi Jaffar Naqvi said that treason allegations could not be leveled against anyone without substantial proves.

Allama Kokab Noorani also expressed similar views and said nobody could be declared traitor without proofs

Rasheed rejects reports of consultations with COAS over Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Pervaiz Rasheed Thursday brushed aside reports as unfounded of government’s consultations with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in connection with General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

Talking to media persons here, Pervaiz Rasheed rubbishing the above reports in a section of media and press pointed out that Musharraf’s case is subjudice before a competent court.

“Any announcement in relation to Musharraf would be tantamount to being in clash with legal norms and principles of equality,” he added.

He said no decision has yet been made over Pervez Musharraf’s application for removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Rasheed said it was a firm belief of the government that the armed forces represent a national institution and no compromise would be made on it in any circumstances.

U.K. court rejects CBI plea for Ravi Shankaran’s extradition

In a major setback to the CBI, the case against Ravi Shankaran, key accused in the naval ‘war room leak’ case, was rejected by the England and Wales High Court on Tuesday.

In addition, the judges, Lord Brian Leveson and Mr. Justice Blake, ordered the CBI to pay Shankaran Rs. 1 crore in legal costs. They said there was no prima facie case against him.

Shankaran had appealed to the High Court after an extradition order passed by Home Secretary Theresa May in May 2013. The order came after the decisions of District Judge Nicholas Evans at the Westminster Magistrates Court in December 2011 and again in March 2013.

Tuesday’s High Court order overrules both Judge Evans’ ruling and the extradition order.

The judges re-examined the evidence to establish if a prima facie case existed for extradition.

Concluding his ruling, Justice Lord Leveson said: “For the sake of completeness and in deference to the comprehensive arguments that have been advanced on this appeal, each of the grounds has been considered. In the event, I would allow this appeal on the sole ground that the District Judge failed properly to re-evaluate the admissibility of the third (and only operative) hearsay statement attributed to Kushwaha against the further evidence advanced on behalf of the appellant. Performing that exercise with due regard to the provisions of s. 84 of the Extradition Act 2003, I have little doubt that it should not have been admitted as the only evidence linking the Vic Branson email to the appellant. Without that link, the prima facie case that must be established collapses.”

The judges also remarked on the “sluggish pace” at which the proceedings had moved in India. “It took around six years [from initial arrest in April 2006 until an appellate decision of the Indian courts dated 11 May 2012] for the other Indian defendants to secure bail. As at that date, the documentary basis of the case… had still not been disclosed,” the ruling states.

Govt rejects Musharraf’s ECL plea

ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry has rejected Pervez Musharraf’s application seeking removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

The former military ruler had filed the application with the interior ministry after the Special Court said the government had the authority to allow him to travel abroad.

Mushararf’s spokesman, Rashid Qureshi claimed that the letter from the Initerior Ministry has not been received.

Musharraf had filed petitions praying the court to allow him to travel abroad for medical treatment and to visit his ailing mother.

Earlier on Wednesday, Railways Minister and PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique advised Musharraf to ‘show courage, be a man and shun the acting.’

Arab summit rejects call to consider Israel as 'Jewish state'

KUWAIT CITY: Arab leaders fully back a Palestinian refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, an Israeli demand that threatens to derail peace talks, a joint statement said on Wednesday.

"We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state," said the final declaration of the two-day Arab summit in Kuwait.oh-

 

Russian media rejects US claims on civilian deaths in drone attacks

MOSCOW: Number of civilian’s deaths from US drone attacks in Pakistan is far bigger than Washington admits, Russian media said on Sunday.

In a documentary on US drones, the Russian media said over 3000 people half of them civilians have been killed in 350 aerial strikes in Pakistan.

The Russian media called US term ‘Signature Strikes’ as worrying since in this procedure suspects are killed in US drone attacks without any substantial evidence.

They said the US drone attacks are tantamount to war crimes and sheer violation of international laws.

Judge rejects Apple bid to ban Samsung devices

SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge Thursday rejected Apple's request to ban an array of Samsung smartphones and tablets found to have infringed on patents held by the US tech giant.
US District Judge Lucy Koh, who oversaw the blockbuster patent trial, finalized the damage award to be paid by the South Korean electronics giant at $929 million.
But in a separate order, the judge denied Apple's request to ban 23 Samsung devices, saying there was no evidence that consumer demand was driven by the infringing elements.
"To persuade the court to grant Apple such an extraordinary injunction -- to bar such complex devices for incorporating three touchscreen software features -- Apple bears the burden to prove that these three touchscreen software features drive consumer demand for Samsung's products," the judge wrote. "Apple has not met this burden."
A jury last year awarded more than $1 billion to Apple for patent infringement, but the judge threw out some of that award and ordered a partial retrial. The final amount awarded was $929 million.
Both sides have been appealing various aspects of the case, which is likely to be tied up in courts for some time barring an agreement between the two companies.
But because of the fast-moving nature of the business, the devices at issue in the case are no longer being sold.
Judge Koh noted that "the only new fact is that Samsung represents that no infringing units are currently in the marketplace."
She added that "Apple presents no evidence that any current Samsung devices incorporate the patented features. As such, it appears that the public interest slightly favors Samsung."