By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will take up the matter of Pakistani death row prisoner in Indonesia, Zulfiqar Ali, with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo due in Islamabad on Friday for a two-day visit to Pakistan.
“PM will take up the matter of Pakistani prisoner in Indonesia with visiting Dignitary.requesting for repatriation in view of terminal illness of the prisoner,” Khawaja Muhammad Asif tweeted on Thursday.
Zulifqar Ali, 53, was taken into custody in Indonesia on drug-related charges back in 2004. He has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and according to doctors has three months to live. He was already suffering from chronic liver and Diabetes Mellitus when he was arrested.
Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal in a weekly briefing on in the capital, Islamabad on Thursday also confirmed that the country is working on Ali’s repatriation, TV channels reported.
He said Pakistan was in constant contact with the Indonesian embassy and is raising the issue on every forum. The spokesperson further said the country is bearing the medical costs of the prisoner.
His case came to the fray back in 2016 when Indonesia told Pakistani embassy in Jakarta that he would be executed for being convicted on charges of possession of 300-grammes of heroin. His execution was stayed after rights groups and the United Nations implored the Indonesian government, after which Islamabad also intervened.
Zulifqar Ali belongs to Mughalpura neighbourhood of Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore.
