Davis case: updates thread

[simple_and_peacefull]

LHC allows press clippings to be used in Davis case

Published: March 3, 2011

The court stipulated that all materials be added to the case record by March 14. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: On Wednesday Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice, Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, accepted an application ordering that clippings of newspapers about Raymond Davis’s alleged spying activities be made part of the court record.
The CJ passed this order, while accepting an application from Advocate Muhammad Azher Siddique, who presented clippings of several newspapers and internet material comprising 225 pages before the court. Siddique submitted that Davis was involved in spying in Pakistan. He said the US government had also acknowledged this. He said that the press clippings must be declared part of the official record to prosecute the case against Davis. The court adjourned the hearing till March 14.
The court also accepted another application by Siddique requesting that the court rely on photocopies of such materials instead of demanding certified copies. However, the court refused to declare the US government a necessary party to these petitions. Siddique had submitted that it was necessary to make the US ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter a necessary party in the petitions but the court said that their was no need for it. The judge held that it was the Pakistani government which would decide the question of immunity.
In his petitions, Siddique referred to various news items in the foreign and local media with respect to the US government’s reported plan to move the International Court of Justice. He said that according to a news item the US had withdrawn from the optional protocol to the Vienna Convention on Counselor Rights Proposed in 1963.
The petitioner said that former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had informed UN Secretary General Kofi Anan about the decision to withdraw from the protocol in a letter dated March 7, 2005, adding that the US intended to move the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Davis case during the pendency of the current petitions. Siddique said that there was a possibility that either the US or Pakistan government might take such action. He requested that in the interest of justice and fair play the court should settle the issue.
Advocate Siddique has already challenged the claimed diplomatic immunity for accused Davis under Vienna Conventions, describing it as being in conflict with the Constitution of Pakistan as well as the United Nations charter on safety and security of subjects of a nation.
The applicant stated that under the Constitution of Pakistan none of the constituents of the executive, including the president and the federal government, was authorised to extend immunity to its citizens or foreigners when it could endanger national interests.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2011.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/126666/lhc-allows-press-clippings-to-be-used-in-davis-case/

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Updated at: 1010 |
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/mar2011-daily/04-03-2011/u64372.htm

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/mar2011-daily/04-03-2011/u64388.htm

Updated at: 1355 |

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/mar2011-daily/04-03-2011/u64391.htm

Updated at: 1435 |

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

is this right means of what happen..

 

[rolnrol]

Re: is this right means of what happen..

thanks for the post , and yes you are right all of a sudden davis disappeared from the media and after couple of weeks he will disappear from the minds of the people as well.

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Re: is this right means of what happen..

thanks for the post , and yes you are right all of a sudden davis disappeared from the media and after couple of weeks he will disappear from the minds of the people as well.

i had promise myself not to divert my eyes from that RD. i will keep continue post updates about in Davis case updates thread on this site. and i hope all of us do that if we really care our country.

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Davis murder trial to go ahead

By Rana Yasif
Published: March 4, 2011

The US consulate has nominated Syed Zahid Hussain Bukhari, who is former government prosecutor, as lawyer for Raymond Davis. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: An additional sessions judge on Thursday said that the murder trial of CIA contractor Raymond Davis will go ahead, despite the insistence of the US government that he has diplomatic immunity.

The court also extended Davis’ judicial remand till March 15 and directed the police to submit a challan of the case registered against the US official for carrying illegal weapons in the next hearing.
Judge Yousaf Aujla passed these judgments during the hearing of the murder case against Davis which took place amid tight security in Kot Lakhpat jail. The case was adjourned until March 8 and according to sources, the court is most likely to indict Davis in the next hearing, Express 24/7 reported.
Davis has claimed he acted in self-defence when he shot dead two men in a busy Lahore street in January. The issue of his claim to diplomatic immunity is pending before the Lahore High Court which is due to announce its ruling on March 14.
“The court passed an order today saying that he (Davis) had failed to produce any legitimate document proving his diplomatic immunity,” the lawyer representing the families of the two men shot by him, said Asad Manzoor Butt.
“The judge rejected his (Davis’s) immunity claim after a lot of debate,” Butt said.
His lawyer pleaded that he could not be prosecuted by this court because of the diplomatic immunity issue was pending in Lahore High Court, Butt said.
“The judge replied that the Lahore High Court had not barred him to proceed on the murder trial,” Butt said.
Zahid Bokhari, Davis’s lawyer, told AFP the judge had ordered the trial to continue because for the past one-and-a-half months no document had been produced in the court related to Davis’s immunity.
“We will see the detailed written order by the judge and then will be able to tell whether he had rejected the claim of diplomatic immunity or not,” Bokhari said.
“We have tried to stop this trial and asked for some documents related to this case from the court,” said Bokhari, who appeared for the first time on behalf of Davis.
This was the second time that media-persons were kept at bay from the trial proceedings. Only Carmela Conroy, US consul general in Lahore, was given permission to attend the proceedings.
At a previous hearing on February 25, Davis refused to sign the copy of the charge sheet, insisting that he be released and claiming that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Salman Basir told reporters in Islamabad that it would be premature to conclude that the issue had damaged Pakistan-US relations in any lasting sense.
“I think on the Davis issue, it is of course our responsibility to ensure that issues such as these do not cast a shadow on our bilateral relations,” he said, adding: “I believe that is also the case with the State Department”.
He said Pakistan was mindful of its international obligations as well as legal and constitutional responsibilities. With additional input from AFP
Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2011
http://tribune.com.pk/story/127378/davis-murder-trial-to-go-ahead/

 

[gazoomartian]

Re: Desparate efforts to save Davis

KSA,UAE,
Why they involve in this case,
OR
Are they involve in all US plan's in PAKISTAN.

Saudis cant even move a muscle w/o the blessing of Washington. I thought you knew that

 

[zeshaan]

http://www.jasarat.com/epaper/mmdetails.php?date=05-03-2011&file=22&category=nation

Where we stand after this mews ?

 

[zeshaan]

Re: Desparate efforts to save Davis

 

[zeshaan]

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Raymond Davis case: US sees limited progress in spy standoff

By Reuters
Published: March 5, 2011

Punitive measures also under discussion in Washington. PHOTO: EXPRESS

WASHINGTON: US national security officials say progress is being made to persuade Pakistan to free a CIA contractor held on murder charges but that Washington could take punitive diplomatic and financial action if the case is not resolved soon.

The officials said they believed private discussions between Islamabad and Washington have cooled anti-American rhetoric that erupted in the country after the arrest of Raymond Davis.
Last week, CIA Director Leon Panetta raised the Davis case with his Pakistani counterpart General Ahmed Pasha, head of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also talked about Davis with top Pakistani officials.
The US message, according to a senior official in Washington, was turn down the volume of public discussion about Davis and work through private channels.
US officials believe the public uproar in Pakistan over Davis has subsided enough to allow productive dialogue about devising a way to free him.
But several officials told the news agency of detailed discussions within US President Barack Obamas administration about coercive measures being considered if Pakistan does not free Davis because, according to Washington, he has diplomatic immunity. These could include slowing disbursements of US aid to Pakistan and the issuing of US entry visas to Pakistanis, an official said.
A more distant possibility, the official said, would be to declare some Pakistani diplomats persona non grata and expel them from the United States.
Room for flexibility
Two US officials stressed that Washington was not close to being ready to impose any of these sanctions, adding that the pace would ultimately be dictated by events in Pakistan.
If this looks like it is headed toward a point of no return then a decision will be made to pressure them, one of the officials said.
But punitive steps will likely remain on hold, the official said, if Davis stayed in good health, continued to be segregated from other detainees in the jail and there appeared to be a possibility of securing his release.
As long as it remains where it is, in stasis, people will leave flexibility, the official said.
Other US officials said Pakistani authorities recently made significant efforts to improve security around Davis and while tensions have eased, US officials warned that little progress had been made in devising a diplomatic formula under which Pakistan might be able to release Davis.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2011.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/127902/raymond-davis-case-us-sees-limited-progress-in-spy-standoff/

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

http://ww.jang.com.pk/jang/mar2011-daily/05-03-2011/index.html

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Zardari, munter discuss Davis issue

Updated at 2115 PST Saturday, March 05, 2011

ISLAMABAD: United States Ambassador Cameron P. Munter called on President Asif Ali Zardari here at presidency on Saturday and discussed bilateral issues.

According to the presidency sources, US ambassador told president about the reservations of Obama administration over ongoing case of Raymond Davis in court.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=12129

 

[karachiwala]

American experts arrive in Pak to provide legal aid to Davis

Two American experts arrived in Pakistan today to provide legal aid to a US embassy official on trial for shooting and killing two armed men in Lahore in January, according to media reports.
The detention of private security contractor Raymond Davis triggered a serious diplomatic row between Pakistan and the US and ties between intelligence agencies of the two countries have plunged to a new low.

The US hired three Pakistani lawyers to defend Davis, whose claim of diplomatic immunity has been rejected by a court in Lahore. Sensing that Pakistani courts will proceed against Davis, the US has now sent two legal experts to aid him, TV news channels reported.

The American experts will meet Davis at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, where he is being held, and discuss the cases against him, the reports said. In addition, the experts will hold a meeting with the families of the men killed by Davis, the reports said.

The US is reportedly trying to seek a solution to Davis' case under Islamic laws, which allow such matters to be settled through a "blood money" deal, sources close the families said.

The US diplomats have reportedly contacted the families and offered 'diyat' or compensation paid to the heirs of a dead person. The Pakistan government is under pressure from the US to free Davis but it is also facing internal pressure as opposition parties have demanded that he should be punished.

The Lahore High Court has stopped the government from releasing Davis. It will take up a case on Davis' diplomatic status on March 14. The Foreign Ministry is expected to inform the High Court whether Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who apparently lost his slot in the cabinet due to his stand on the issue of Davis, has said that the American does not have "blanket immunity".

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Talks under way for Davis issue settlement

By Qaiser Butt
Published: March 6, 2011

The talks were made public on Saturday after the US ambassador in Pakistan, Cameron Munter, called on President Asif Ali Zardari. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

ISLAMABAD: A top level dialogue between Pakistan and the United States is under way to hammer out a negotiated settlement on the Raymond Davis issue.

The talks were made public on Saturday after the US ambassador in Pakistan, Cameron Munter, called on President Asif Ali Zardari and delivered an important message from Washington, a source said requesting anonymity.
After the meeting, spokesperson for the president Farhatullah Babar issued a brief and vague statement, which said that various bilateral issues were discussed between the two sides.
An article published in The Washington Post on Saturday by President Zardari on the Davis issue also came under discussion, sources said.
A veteran diplomat said that a marked improvement in bilateral ties between Pakistan and the United States “will be visible over the next couple of weeks” when US special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mark Grossman, will hold talks with top civilian and military leadership of the country.
The ties, which soured rapidly after the arrest of a CIA contractor, Raymond Davis, in Lahore on Jan 27, “are returning to normalcy”, the former diplomat told The Express Tribune. “The process to return the Washington-Islamabad diplomatic affairs to normalcy is under way,” he said requesting anonymity.
However, at no point in time did the relations hit a point of no-return despite a heated war of words.
In this context, he cited two important meetings between top Pakistani-US military leaders in Muscat and Rawalpindi over the past week.
The February 23 meeting in Muscat between Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral US Central Command chief General James Mattis, chief of the Special Operations Command Admiral Eric Olson and the Commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus.
Although US commanders consult frequently with General Kayani, this was only the third time they gathered in this manner since August 2008, said an ISPR press release to signify the meeting.
Referring to CIA-ISI ties in the context of Raymond Davis episode, the diplomat noted the post meeting statement by the ISPR: “The two sides also discussed the need for greater infrastructure development, cross-border communication between Pakistan and Afghanistan and information sharing to defeat terrorists.”
The second meeting between Gen Kayani and top US commanders occurred on March 3 at the GHQ when the Tripartite Commission, composed of senior military representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and coalition forces in Afghanistan, held its 33rd meeting in Rawalpindi, including General David H Petreaus, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) and General Sher Muhammad Karimi, Chief of General Staff of Afghan National Army. The forum also discussed various measures to further improve the coordination.
To substantiate his optimism, the former diplomat said that Grossman’s first interaction with President Zardari and Gen Kayani is primarily scheduled for talks on the Afghan issue but it would not remain confined to just one single subject.
“There is no doubt that the talks will play a key role in put the ties back on the right track,” he added.
The US envoy is faced with an uphill task in Afghanistan as the US plans the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan this summer.
Grossman has already been to London, Jeddah, Kabul, Islamabad and Brussels to promote a “political reconciliation with the Taliban”.
“There appeared to a greater realisation between the civil and military leadership of the both countries that the Davis’ factor should not be allowed to take their (bilateral) relations, particularly war on terror, a hostage,” he said.
The former diplomat cited three major developments which indicated leniency on part of Pakistan: (a) Pakistan refrained from prosecuting Raymond Davis on espionage charges despite the fact that Davis was put on trial for the Lahore murders (b) Pakistan is no longer demanding the custody of the three US nationals who are still hiding in the US consulate in Lahore after crushing to death another Pakistani citizen (c) Spying charges were not pressed against another US national who was arrested in Peshawar despite having been found to be involved in questionable activities.
However , the arrest of the US citizen in Peshawar sent a loud and clear message to the CIA that more of its “spies” could be arrested in the future, the former diplomat opined.
On the part of the Americans, he said, a long list of its “diplomats” was made public by the state minister for foreign affairs after the list was handed over by the US embassy last week.
However, he warned that it would be a “mistake to read this display as an indication that the trust issues have been resolved between the two intelligence agencies”.
“But it is also significant to note that the CIA spokesman George Little said any problems between the two agencies will be sorted out.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2011
http://tribune.com.pk/story/128460/talks-under-way-for-davis-issue-settlement/

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Updated at: 2015 |
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/mar2011-daily/06-03-2011/u64603.htm

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

Demand to lodge Davis in Governor House refused

By Qaiser Butt
Published: March 7, 2011

The US made the plea to ensure safety of the CIA contractor. PHOTO: EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government has turned down a formal request by the US diplomatic mission seeking transfer of CIA contractor Raymond Davis from Kot Lakhpat prison to the Governor House in Lahore, an official told The Express Tribune.

“After examining the different aspects of the US demand the Punjab government refused it and termed it unworkable,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
It was proposed that Davis, who is facing a double murder trial in Kot Lakhpat jail, be shifted to the Governor’s House, two rooms of which could be declared a sub-jail, the source added.
It was also demanded that the trial of Davis should be conducted in the Governor House. The demand was made to ensure safety and well-being of the high-profile US official as the American media has expressed concerns, terming Davis’ detention in the jail a risk to his life.
The Punjab government has however assured the US that the best possible security arrangements have been made for the CIA contractor who shot dead two Pakistanis in Lahore.
The provincial government’s decision to move the trial court in the jail was also aimed at ensuring his safety, the source said, adding, “Every concession provided under jail manual is being extended to the US national.”
The official said that any extra allowance to Davis by the Punjab government could cause resentment in the public. “The issue will also be exploited by the religious groups and political parties who are constantly opposing diplomatic immunity for Davis. Do you think that the religious and extremist groups who are demanding death sentence for the killer will accept this proposition?” the source said, explaining the government’s reasons for turning down the demand. “No, not at all. They will never accept the proposal at any cost and under any circumstances,” he remarked.
He said that the US diplomats who made the demand to the Punjab government were of the view that the federal government and the Governor Punjab would agree to it if it was accepted by the provincial government.
Before formally refusing the proposal, the Punjab government discussed it with the legal and security departments and also examined the proposal’s possible political implications and the public reaction if it was met.
The provincial police, intelligence and security departments opposed the demand saying Davis may slip out of the Governor House, the source claimed.
“He is an extraordinarily smart and shrewd person who has the skills to dodge the police and the security departments easily,” the source said.
The law department also disapproved the proposal and said that shifting Davis would be tantamount to placing the prisoner under the federal government’s custody, relieving the provincial government of it, the official said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2011.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/128837/demand-to-lodge-davis-in-governor-house-refused/

 

[simple_and_peacefull]

LHC rejects petition to make US party in Davis case

Published: March 7, 2011

Petitioner says documents regarding Davis' immunity have not been revealed as yet. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday rejected a petition to make the American government party in the Raymond Davis diplomatic immunity case.
Advovcate Azhar Sadeeq filed the petition. According to the petition the documents regarding Davis’s diplomatic immunity have not been revealed as yet. Hence, it said, the US government should be included in the case so a record can be demanded from the US embassy.
The Cheif Justice of the Lahore High Court Justice Ijaz Chaudhry rejected the petition saying that the case does not fall under the jurisdiction of the court.
Meanwhile, the registrar office of the Supreme Court (SC) returned a petition against the diplomatic immunity of Raymond Davis with objections.
During an earlier hearing last week, the Lahore High Court dismissed a petition challenging the possible Davis case to Adiyala Jail from Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/128904/lhc-rejects-petition-to-make-us-party-in-davis-case/