Afghan "green-eyed girl" on trial in Pakistan
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Nov 4, 2016
A court in Pakistan has rejected to release the Afghan woman Sharbat Gula who was arrested on charges of possessing fake Pakistani National Identity Card.
"During her illegal stay in Pakistan, she twice misused her position by obtaining a Computerised National Identity Card", the judge said.
McCurry, the photographer, said he is committed to helping her legally and financially.
Afghans say Sharbat Gula belonged to eastern Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.
Investigators, who have uncovered thousands of fraud cases over the last decade, launched a probe into her application shortly after she procured the identity card. According to local media, Gula is also suffering from Hepatitis-C and high blood pressure.
Last month UNHCR said that more than 350,000 Afghan refugees, documented and undocumented, had returned from Pakistan so far in 2016, adding that it expects a further 450,000 to do so by the year's end.
Meanwhile, the FIA raided her house at Nothia in Peshawar and arrested her prior to expiry of the deadline for surrendering fake CNICs.
The special judge presiding over the case, Farah Jamshed had reserved judgment on the mail petition till today, after hearing arguments from both sides of the case.
"I think I will have to review this case because she is a woman and we should see it from a humanitarian angle", Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a press conference Sunday.
In June 1985, an arresting image of a green-eyed young Afghan girl became the subject of one of the most iconic National Geographic covers of all time.
He was asked that several other Afghans were languishing in different jails of Pakistan as to why Afghanistan government was concerned about Sharbat Gula. National Geographic also made a documentary about her life that dubbed her the "Mona Lisa of the Afghan war".
"We will continue to do everything and anything we can to secure Sharbat's release".
He said the Afghan government is ready to facilitate Gula as well as her children's repatriation back to Afghanistan with dignity, and support her to resettle in her own country after her release.
