PESHAWAR – A special court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of National Geo’s famed ‘Afghan Girl’ Sharbat Gula in fake national identity card case.
She is in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) since Oct 26.
Gula was arrested from her Peshawar residence by the FIA for alleged forgery of a Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC).
Her counsel told the court, Sharbat Gula was on her way to Afghanistan when she was arrested.
The lawyers submitted that there was no complaint against her about her illegal stay in Pakistan. They claimed the FIA raided her house and arrested her without fulfilling the legal procedure as there should be a complaint first in such cases.
The lawyers submitted that the government had already extended voluntary return of the Afghan refugees till October 31. They said the government had asked Afghan nationals to return Pakistani CNICs as they would not be charged for that.
They pointed out that the FIA raided and arrested her before the expiry date for the return of CNIC, which is against the government decision. The lawyers submitted that she was a Hepatitis-C patient, had suffered from high blood pressure problem and needed proper treatment.
Furthermore, the lawyers argued that she is a mother of four children and they depended on her as her husband had died some four years ago. The lawyers prayed the court to issue her release order on bail.
However, the public prosecutor opposed the release of the Afghan woman. He stated that she was charged with having Pakistani CNIC.
Sharbat Gula, who fled Afghanistan during Soviet occupation shot to fame after her photograph as a young refugee was published on the cover of National Geographic magazine back in 1985 on her arrival to Peshawar.
The FIA arrested her from Nauthia, Peshawar, on the charges of possessing fake Pakistani CNIC.-Online
