- Envoy’s actions breach of diplomatic protocol: FO
- FO says actions amount to interference in internal affairs.
- Islamabad urges Norway to respect its sovereignty.
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Thursday summoned the Norwegian ambassador over his presence at a court hearing in Islamabad, with officials stating the act constituted interference in the country’s internal affairs.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said that the additional Foreign Secretary (Europe) summoned the Norwegian diplomat regarding his attendance at a court proceeding, terming them “a breach of diplomatic protocol and relevant international law”.
“Noting that his actions amount to interference in the internal affairs of the country, the Ambassador was urged to adhere to the established norms of diplomatic engagement, as outlined in the relevant articles of the Vienna Convention,” Andrabi added.
The Norwegian envoy was reported to have attended a Supreme Court hearing in the case concerning lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, over their controversial tweets.
Mazari, responding to an X user’s post criticising the Norwegian ambassador’s presence at the hearing, defended his actions, saying that diplomats “routinely observe” such proceedings.
“[…] diplomats routinely observe court proceedings – that is not equivalent to them taking a position on any case. This is a standard practice,” she wrote in her post on X.
Meanwhile, a three-member SC bench accepted Mazari’s plea against the Islamabad High Court verdict, which had dismissed the lawyer’s plea seeking to stop the trial in the additional sessions judge’s court.
The court, in its verdict, said that the trial in the said case should be halted till the decision of the IHC.
Mazari and Chattha were booked in a case registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) under Sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016 and were subsequently indicted on October 30.
The first information report (FIR) alleges that the couple attempted to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts.
