The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday stopped former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani from travelling to Bangkok from the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore.
Gilani was to travel via flight TJ-364 of a private airline to Bangkok where he was scheduled to participate in a international conference organised by the Universal Peace Federation on February 10. He was stopped at the immigration counter by the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) officials because of an ongoing investigation against him in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases for which his name has been placed on the no-fly list.
National Assembly former deputy speaker Faisal Kareem Kundi also accompanied the senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader.
After being informed that his name was placed on the exit control list (ECL), Gilani left the airport.
On the occasion, an agitated Gilani was seen expressing anger at Prime Minister Imran Khan over inclusion of his name in the ECL. “Political revenge will not be good for Prime Minister Imran Khan … I have been appearing before courts consistently and had already informed the judges and relevant authorities regarding my foreign visit,” he said. “Naya Pakistan cannot be built by curbing the freedom of expression and movement. If a former prime minister faces coercion, how can a common man get protection?” he asked.
Gilani said he can never think of leaving the country. “I visited Nepal one-and-a-half month earlier to attend Asia Pacific Conference,” he said, adding, “Today, I was going to Seoul via Bangkok to attend another international conference.” “My basic human rights have been violated by barring me from travelling despite the fact that I had informed the NAB judge regarding my visit,” he said, adding that Foreign Office as well as Ministry of Interior had also been aware of his foreign tour. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the episode and said restricting movement of any citizen is tantamount to violating the fundamental rights. He asked for remedial steps to allow Yousaf Raza Gilani travel abroad.
Published in Daily Times, February 7th 2019.