Rashid case back in court
2006-06-13 12:00
Pretoria - The case of missing Pakistani national Khalid Mahmood Rashid will be back in Pretoria High Court on Thursday.
Rashid's lawyer, Zehir Omar, said on Monday he was bringing an urgent application before the court asking that Rashid's arrest, detention and removal from South Africa be declared unlawful.
He was going to ask the court to order Home Affairs minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Intelligence minister Ronnie Kasarils, Safety and Security minister Charles Nqakula and Justice minister Brigitte Mabandla to appear before court to answer questions on Rashid's disappearance.
Omar was planning to ask the court to order an investigation into Rashid's disappearance until he is found.
This comes after the South African government last Thursday said that it received confirmation from the Pakistani government that Rashid had been received by them following his deportation in November last year.
Earlier in the week Mapisa-Nqakula released some information - pursuant to a court order - about the deportation of Rashid.
Arrest contested in court
The State attorney sent a written answer to Omar on Tuesday, in which he said the State could not provide a flight number or the place where the plane landed. He could however confirm that Rashid was flown out of South Africa on a chartered plane from Waterkloof Air Force Base.
Rashid disappeared at the end of last year from Estcourt where he was picked up in a night raid on his home for being an illegal immigrant.
His arrest was contested in court but Home Affairs officials said Rashid was deported to Pakistan within days after his arrest.
There were, however, fears in the Muslim community that Rashid may have been taken to an international detention centre.
On Monday Omar send a letter to the International Criminal Court asking it to investigate Rashid's "enforced disappearance" which he says is a crime against humanity.
In the letter to the ICC Omar claims that British Intelligence requested its South African counterparts "to abduct" Rashid who he claims was lawfully in South Africa.
Omar said the end goal of all the court actions was to establish the whereabouts of Rashid.
- SAPA