FIA releases Jalila Haider after seven hours detention at Lahore airport

LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday released Lawyer and human rights activist Jalila Haider after seven hours of detention at the Lahore airport.   

Jalila Haider was stopped by airport authorities when she was boarding a flight to the United Kingdom, where she had to attend a conference on feminism arranged by the University of Sussex.

Haider said that she was made to wait for seven hours but no one came to see her, after which officials returned her passport and told her that she can book another flight and go to the UK. She added that she was not involved in any anti-state activity.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the detention of Haider and termed it an “ill-conceived action” that continued the tradition of targeting human rights defenders and journalists.

Haider is a rights lawyer providing free legal services to women in poverty. In October last year, Haider was named among the 100 most influential women of 2019 by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).