Mansoor Ijaz will not come to Pakistan: Akram Sheikh
24 January, 2012
ISLAMABAD: American Businessman and the central figure of the memogate scandal Mansoor Ijaz has refused to come to Pakistan and has asked the judicial commission to record his statement in Zurich or London.
Mansoor Ijaz's counsel Akram Sheikh said his client was being trapped and may be arrested upon his arrival in Pakistan.
Sheikh told reporters that Ijaz was reluctant to visit the country, fearing that he would be detained indefinitely.
"It seems like a well-orchestrated trap to hold Mr Ijaz indefinitely in Pakistan after his deposition before the commission," Sheikh said.
"Therefore Mr Ijaz has decided to make a request to the commission to record his testimony in London or Zurich," Sheikh told reporters.
"Mr Ijaz refuses to walk knowingly into the trap being laid by the government and waits to speak the truth of this case," he said.
"Mr. Ijaz has a concrete fear that electronic evidence in the memo case can be completely destroyed," Sheikh said, adding that Ijaz had also declined to appear before a parliamentary committee separately probing the memo issue.
"The committee can't summon a foreign national and could instead, after taking an appointment from Mr. Mansoor, record his statement in London or Zurich or use his testimony he gives to the commission."
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