LAHORE, Pakistan — The United States on Friday renewed demands for Pakistan to immediately release a detained American official who Washington says acted in self defence when he shot dead two men.
The latest US call came hours after Pakistani police rejected the self-defence claim of Raymond Davis, who shot dead two men in broad daylight, and accused him of cold-blooded murder as a court extended his remand.
"As a member of the administrative and technical staff at the US embassy in Islamabad, Raymond Davis is entitled to full immunity from criminal prosecution by Pakistan under the Vienna convention," US Consul General Carmela Conroy said.
Reading out a written statement to media in Lahore, Conroy, who met Davis in jail, said that under the convention,"he should be freed immediately".
"We need to resolve this case immediately and continue our work, including cooperation in education and health, our common fight against extremist violence, and building bridges between the people of Pakistan and America."
"We regret that authorities did not consider... eyewitness accounts and physical evidence when they stated that this was not a case of self-defence," she added.
Lahore's police chief Aslam Tareen had told a press conference Friday morning that "It was cold-blooded murder".
On January 28, the US embassy identified him as a "staff member of the US consulate general in Lahore", the next day as a "diplomat assigned to the US embassy in Islamabad".
Under international laws, embassy diplomats have full diplomatic immunity whereas consular officials are liable for detention in case of grave crimes.
"This incident was a tragedy, and we feel tremendous sorrow over the loss of life. We extend our deep sympathy to all family members who have been affected," Conroy said, but refused to take any questions.
0 comments:
Post a Comment