ISLAMABAD, 6 May 2006 — The Pakistan government has asked German authorities to explain the cause of death of a Pakistani national who died in police custody in Berlin, a Foreign Ministry official said yesterday.
Aamir Cheema, who had gone to Germany for higher education, was arrested by the German police on March 20 while attending a rally organized to protest the printing of caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
“The German authorities in Berlin are expected to complete the investigation shortly into the death of Cheema and inform us,” Nadeem Hotiana said.
According to another report, Cheema, a resident of Pakistan’s garrison town of Rawalpindi, had been arrested in Berlin on March 18 when he reportedly tried to enter the office of German newspaper “Bild,” which had printed caricatures of the Prophet.
The German police claimed to have recovered a knife from Cheema, who was a student of textile engineering in Moenchengladbach and had gone to Berlin to see his relatives.
Quoting initial investigation, an Urdu language daily “Ausaf” said that Cheema committed suicide by hanging himself but did not say when he died. “The cause of death would be known only after the investigations are completed by German authorities,” Hotiana said.
The German authorities were expected to hand over the body of Cheema to Pakistan Embassy in Berlin on Monday to be dispatched to Pakistan.
Meanwhile, members belonging to the six-party alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) called for the National Assembly to hold a special session to study the issue.
“Killing of Cheema in German police custody has provoked public sentiment in Pakistan, which necessitates a detailed in-house discussion on the issue,” read the motion signed by more than a dozen MPs.
According to Pakistani media reports, lawmaker Mian Aslam met Cheema’s father in Rawalpindi on Thursday and promised to raise the issue in the Parliament.
Three lawmakers from MMA said the student — according to his family — had allegedly been tortured to death, though they offered no evidence to back up the claim.
Officials of the assembly secretariat said that the motion would be taken up during Monday’s session.
In Berlin, an official confirmed that Aamir Cheema was found dead in his cell early Wednesday, having hanged himself using his clothes. Spokeswoman Juliane Baer-Henney said there was no indication that anyone else had been involved in the man’s death.
“There were no indications of involvement of other persons,” said Baer-Henney. “He used his clothing to fashion a noose and hanged himself on the grill over his window.”
