Haneef’s wife seeks PM’s intervention

With the prospects of Bangalore-based doctor Mohammed Haneef’s early release appearing bleak in the wake of charges made against him by the Australian police, his despairing wife Firdous Arshiya has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter and secure the early release of her husband.

Firdous Arshiya told reporters at her father’s residence in BTM layout in Bangalore that she would appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony to intervene and help her husband, “who had been charged for no fault of his”.

“I plead for their intervention and his release as soon as possible because all the charges against him are baseless We have been patient for the last 12 days, but the developments are not encouraging and we are worried about his safety”, said Firdous Arshiya, who delivered a baby girl about three weeks ago.

“They (Australian authorities) cannot do this injustice to my husband, who is innocent. I had patience till now as I thought there was nothing for them to charge him. I did not know that they would charge him for something so senseless”, she said referring to the charge of supporting terrorist organization against Haneef for merely passing on a SIM card to his cousins.

Firdous Arshiya said her husband had not even been paying for the use of the SIM card after it was handed over to his cousins about a year ago before he moved to Australia from London. “Though they had kept in touch with each other, even after we moved to Australia, their conversations were limited to friendly chats. Sabeel used to enquire about medical environment in Australia”, she said.

She also said that they have not been able to get in touch with Hanif’s lawyer Peter Russo or any official in Australia, which had compounded their anxiety. When asked whether she managed to speak to Haneef, whose bail application has now been adjourned to Monday, Firdous Arshiya said “we are trying to contact him, but have not been able to. We are trying to do something”.