PAKISTAN'S Supreme Court opened a potentially government-toppling commission into the "Memogate" scandal yesterday, ignoring accusations from the human rights commissioner that the law was being used to transform the country into a "security state".
Asma Jehangir, also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, lashed out at the judiciary as she announced she was standing aside as legal counsel for former US ambassador Husain Haqqani because she believed he had no chance of a fair hearing.
"I don't trust the commission constituted by the court," Ms Jehangir said, indicating she feared the interference of the country's powerful ISI intelligence agency. "Invisible forces want their desired judgment so I don't want to waste my time by preparing the case. Haqqani will hire the services of another senior lawyer I recommended to him."
Several senior government figures have cast doubt on the independence of the inquiry, and hinted that the government would consider granting a pardon if a verdict of treason were reached against the former star diplomat.
Mr Haqqani was forced to resign as his government's Washington envoy in November after a Pakistani-American businessman claimed he had asked him to deliver a memo in May to then US joint chiefs-of-staff chairman Mike Mullen.
The unsigned memo, which the businessman intermediary Mansoor Ijaz insisted came from the highest Pakistani government authority, appealed for US help to stifle a feared Pakistan military coup in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid. Mr Haqqani has denied any knowledge of the memo, as has Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari.
A government official told the Express Tribune it would "go to any extent to defend (Haqqani) because we believe he hasn't done anything against the national security of Pakistan".
Mr Haqqani has been barred from leaving Pakistan while the commission completes the one-month inquiry into whether criminal proceedings should be laid over the memo, which the military leadership claims constituted a conspiracy to damage it.
Last month, observers interpreted Mr Zardari's trip to Dubai - reportedly for medical treatment - as a precaution against similar travel restrictions.
Pakistan's military has long defended its right to intervene in politics, even if it is seen as too weak to do so following the US raid on the bin Laden compound and its own failure to stem violent militancy. But its support for the judicial inquiry offers a legitimate means of destabilising, perhaps even unseating, an administration that has sought to curtail its powers. A commission finding that Mr Haqqani has a criminal case to answer would almost certainly drag Mr Zardari into a legal quagmire and potentially force his resignation.
Ms Jehangir argued before the full bench of the Supreme Court last week that there were no grounds for a judicial commission into the memo. She has since accused the court of placing "national security above fundamental rights".
Among those issued notices to appear before the 'memogate' commission are ISI director-general Shuja Pasha, Husain Haqqani, Asma Jehangir and Mansoor Ijaz.
Asma Jehangir, also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, lashed out at the judiciary as she announced she was standing aside as legal counsel for former US ambassador Husain Haqqani because she believed he had no chance of a fair hearing.
"I don't trust the commission constituted by the court," Ms Jehangir said, indicating she feared the interference of the country's powerful ISI intelligence agency. "Invisible forces want their desired judgment so I don't want to waste my time by preparing the case. Haqqani will hire the services of another senior lawyer I recommended to him."
Several senior government figures have cast doubt on the independence of the inquiry, and hinted that the government would consider granting a pardon if a verdict of treason were reached against the former star diplomat.
Mr Haqqani was forced to resign as his government's Washington envoy in November after a Pakistani-American businessman claimed he had asked him to deliver a memo in May to then US joint chiefs-of-staff chairman Mike Mullen.
The unsigned memo, which the businessman intermediary Mansoor Ijaz insisted came from the highest Pakistani government authority, appealed for US help to stifle a feared Pakistan military coup in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid. Mr Haqqani has denied any knowledge of the memo, as has Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari.
A government official told the Express Tribune it would "go to any extent to defend (Haqqani) because we believe he hasn't done anything against the national security of Pakistan".
Mr Haqqani has been barred from leaving Pakistan while the commission completes the one-month inquiry into whether criminal proceedings should be laid over the memo, which the military leadership claims constituted a conspiracy to damage it.
Last month, observers interpreted Mr Zardari's trip to Dubai - reportedly for medical treatment - as a precaution against similar travel restrictions.
Pakistan's military has long defended its right to intervene in politics, even if it is seen as too weak to do so following the US raid on the bin Laden compound and its own failure to stem violent militancy. But its support for the judicial inquiry offers a legitimate means of destabilising, perhaps even unseating, an administration that has sought to curtail its powers. A commission finding that Mr Haqqani has a criminal case to answer would almost certainly drag Mr Zardari into a legal quagmire and potentially force his resignation.
Ms Jehangir argued before the full bench of the Supreme Court last week that there were no grounds for a judicial commission into the memo. She has since accused the court of placing "national security above fundamental rights".
Among those issued notices to appear before the 'memogate' commission are ISI director-general Shuja Pasha, Husain Haqqani, Asma Jehangir and Mansoor Ijaz.