News
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Police detains top FIA official on SC ordersStaff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the arrest of FIA Additional Director General Ahmed Riaz Sheikh after he withdrew an appeal he had filed against his conviction by an accountability court, which was upheld by the Lahore High Court.
Riaz was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined Rs 20 million on corruption charges in 2001. He was dismissed from service in 2002, but reinstated in 2008 under the NRO. At the time of his conviction, Riaz was serving as an FIA deputy director, but was promoted to FIA additional director general in 2010 after the NRO had been declared null and void.
The court ordered that Riaz serve out the remainder of his sentence waived under the NRO. It directed the NAB chairman to confiscate all Riaz’s assets and filed a report with the SC registrar within three days.
Soon after the court orders, police took Riaz into custody and shifted him to Adiala Jail – making him the first NRO beneficiary to be re-arrested.
“The court sent him into police custody after he withdrew his challenge to his conviction,” Riaz’s lawyer, Rashid Rizvi, told the Reuters news agency.
The Supreme Court in December struck down the NRO that had protected Riaz and several thousands of others from old corruption charges.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk