A Leeds gran facing the death penalty in Pakistan for a murder she says she was framed for has begged the UK government to let her come home to her sick daughter.
Yasmin Kausar, 62, was detained after the charred remains of her husband of 23 years were found in a car at a rubbish dump in Rawalpindi in the Punjab region on April 1. The grandmother was bailed by a judge who said claims she hired two men to carry out his brutal murder were "friviolous, baseless and concocted" in nature.
The judge said she had been deliberately framed to deprive her of inheritance and ordered that she be freed from court pending a trial. The Foreign Office said it can't interfere in the legal systems of other countries.
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But Mrs Kausar today, September 1, pleaded with them to raise the case with the Pakistan government to look at her evidence. Speaking from Pakistan, she said: "They visited me in prison and I told them I was being mistreated and beaten by the police women.
"The judge has said I've been framed, why can't they help? Where is the justice in that? I'd like them to get in touch with the Pakistan government and raise the issue and see that I get a fair trial."
She added: "I don't want the inheritance, I just want to come home and see my family. I haven't seen them for eight months. It breaks my heart that I can't see my kids.
"My daughter has cancer, I need to be at home with my children. I feel abandoned by the government."
The Honourable Mr Justice Muhammad Tariq Nadeem granted Mrs Kausar bail after an appeal was taken to the high court in Lahore. In his order, he highlighted flaws in the prosecution argument against bail, including no direct evidence available that can connect Mrs Kausar to the crime she is accused of.
But despite being freed from prison, Mrs Kausar - who is diabetic - cannot leave the country and her family say she is left isolated. And she faces gruelling four hour round trips by taxi to weekly court hearings at £100 a time.
She said: "I'm very upset, I don't feel very well, I can't buy my medicine here. I sit in the court for three hours then it just gets adjourned, there's no evidence to put forward.
"This could take 18 months of adjournments before it is seen by a judge. I'm a British citizen, I'm stuck here wrongly detained. There's no evidence against me. I need them to intervene and get me home."
Since she was bailed, Mrs Kausar's family has launched a petition calling for the immediate intervention of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. They say they have sent Ms Truss extensive evidence that proves Mrs Kausar is innocent and her human rights have been abused while in jail in Pakistan.
Her son, Sajid Bashir, and daughter, Saima, have contacted Liz Truss nine times since May and say they have just had two letters from Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad in response. Sajid, a builder, said: "We've sent Liz Truss nine emails and she hasn't got back in touch.
"She wants to be the prime minister, but she's not prepared to help a British citizen who's been framed for murder. How can she be the next prime minister when she hasn't intervened in anything like this? If she won't step in and help a British citizen? We just feel let down."
Mrs Kausar's nephew Zeb Akhtar slammed Ms Truss's lack of help as a dereliction of her duty as Foreign Secretary.
He said: "This is a disgrace. She is a 62-year-old woman in Pakistan on her own. We've asked Liz Truss for help so many times. We're disgusted she hasn't responded to us, it's a clear-cut case.
"We've contacted her, launched petitions, sent them to her, but she's done nothing. She is in dereliction of her duty. A British national has been murdered, his widow is going through hell and the government has done nothing. Is it that irrelevant to them?
"We have to look at her on tv pitching to be the prime minister of the country knowing she's done nothing to help us. It hurts us."
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: "We are providing consular support to a British national in Pakistan and are in contact with the local authorities."
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