*ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday has announced verdict in the case of extradition of US citizen.*
*IHC stayed extradition of a US citizen of Pakistani origin to America for allegedly planning an attack in New York in connivance with a militant group.*
The court ordered that Haroon, who is under investigation, must not be extradited until next hearing. The hearing of the case was conducted by a single-member bench comprising Mohsin Akhtar Kiani.
Justice Kiani said the court would announce its verdict once the defence lawyer completes his argument in the case.
Talha Haroon is incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for more than a year. He had filed a bail plea through his lawyer at the Islamabad High Court. His lawyer Idrees Ashraf had been representing him in the court, but today his assistant lawyer turned up.
The hearing was adjourned until February 28.
Haroon, 19, was arrested in Pakistan in 2016 after U.S. authorities identified him as one of three men, along with a Canadian citizen and a man from the Philippines, planning attacks on Manhattan’s Times Square and the city’s subway.
His lawyer, during one of the previous hearings, had termed the US investigation a sting operation carried out by an investigating officer motivated by career advancement.
“The FBI projected this as a high-level story, but these people don’t have the qualifications to kill a monkey,” said the lawyer, Idrees Ashraf.