ISLAMABAD: A top court in Pakistan yesterday eased curbs on the nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Islamabad High Court, ruling yesterday on a petition filed by Qadeer ‘s lawyer, said the retired scientist must be allowed to meet close friends and relatives subject to security clearance — something the government says he can already do. But it barred him from giving interviews on proliferation.
Qadeer, the brain behind Pakistan’s atomic bomb, has been effectively under house arrest in Islamabad since February 2004, when he confessed on television to transferring nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Islamabad High Court Judge Sardar Mohammad Aslam said in his order that “no restriction shall be placed on his visit in Pakistan to meet any of his close relations subject to security clearance and necessary precautions ... taken in regard to security and safety which is of paramount importance.”
The scientist’s wife earlier this month lodged a court challenge against the restrictions on her husband, who had cancer surgery in 2006. The court said that Qadeer “will not give interviews to any channel, to a news reporter from a print or electronic media in any manner whatsoever in respect of the issue of proliferation.”
Aslam also said that Qadeer “will not convey, transmit, relay any comment or give interview to any channel, news reporter, print or electronic media, in any manner whatsoever in respect of issue of proliferation.” Aslam, in a written order, also banned Qadeer from discussing proliferation with family or friends.
It was unclear whether Qadeer would appeal the decision, which was made after government lawyers asked the judge to silence him to avoid international sanctions on Pakistan. His lawyer, Javed Iqbal Jaffrey, said the ruling established that Qadeer was a “detainee” and that Qadeer could file more complaints to win his freedom.
— With input from agencies
