Court orders removal of Cyril Almeida's name from no-fly list, withdraws arrest warrants

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 8 October 2018

Cyril Almeida's name has been removed from the no-fly list by the Lahore High Court. The court also withdrew his arrest warrants amidst ongoing treason charges against Nawaz Sharif.

Summary

LAHORE – The Lahore High Court on Monday ordered removal of Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida’s name from the no-fly list and withdrew his arrest warrants.

A three-member bench comprising justices Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Atir Mahmood and Chaudhry Masood Jahangir was hearing a case filed by a civil society member Amina Malik.

She seeks action against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif under treason charges for allegedly defaming state institutions through an interview he gave to Almeida.

Sharif and another ex-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and Almedia appeared in court.

Almeida had missed the previous three hearings of the case that had prompted the judges to issue his non-bailable arrest warrants besides ordering his name on the exit control list on September 24.

The three respondents - Sharif, Abbasi and Almeida were ordered to submit written replies. The hearing was adjourned until October 22.

Dawn published the controversial Sharif’s interview on May 12. It caused quite a stir after Sharif said: “Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can’t we complete the trial?”