US diplomat Col Joseph doesn’t have absolute immunity: IHC

ISLAMABAD: US Defence and Air Attaché Colonel Emanual Joseph does not have absolute immunity, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled on Friday.

The court also granted two weeks to the Ministry of Interior Affairs to decide over placing his name on the Exit Control List (ECL).

The decision was announced as the IHC read out its earlier reserved verdic over the killing of a Islamabad resident, Ateeq Baig, after he was hit by a vehicle driven by Joseph last month.

During a hearing on the petition filed by the deceased’s father, the court ruled that Joseph does not enjoy absolute immunity.

Earlier, it was said that the US diplomat was let go by police officials in Islamabad as the law — Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 — provided the diplomat immunity from criminal prosecution.

Moreover, at Friday’s hearing, IHC Justice Aamer Farooq also gave two weeks to the interior ministry to decide over placing the diplomat’s name on ECL.

The ministry had earlier blacklisted Joseph and submitted a report to the court in this regard.

In a recent development over the case, one of Joseph’s security officials, was also arrested on the orders of AIG Islamabad Asmatullah Junejo.

Security official of US diplomat who ran over motorist in Islamabad arrested

Source says arrest orders have also been given for all other officials involved in helping Colonel Joseph flee from police station

The security official, Taimur, was arrested for obstructing a police official from performing his duty. 

Arrest orders were also issued for all other officials involved in helping Joseph flee from the police station, a source said.

The diplomat’s vehicle ran a red light and rammed into a motorcycle in the federal capital on April 7, killing Baig on the spot and injuring another. The diplomat was let go by police after registration of a case.

On April 20, the government decided to not place Joseph’s name on ECL. However, the deceased’s father took to IHC for placement of the diplomat’s name on ECL. 

He had taken the stance that Joseph, while intoxicated, hit his son and he died on the spot.