Raymond Davis himself paid blood money- Attorney General of Pakistan



Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq revealed on Friday that according to record, Raymond Davis had paid the blood money to the heirs in his individual capacity.

He told this correspondent that according to law, a murderer remained in jail unless he paid Diyat. He said in 2008, the Supreme Court had asked the government to set up a fund that could be utilised for the release of such prisoners who could not pay fines.

He said it could not be said that Raymond’s release was an outcome of an agreement between him and the heirs or an accord between two countries.

He said there was no link between Raymond’s release and Aafia’s return. He said Aafia had been sentenced while Raymond was freed before being sentenced. Raymond could not be tried in the US again, he said.

He said the US Justice Department had talked about an investigation and not a case against Raymond. He said when in any case the accused was forgiven, his case could not be reopened.

Online adds from Washington: Though the Obama administration said it would not directly pay a seven-figure settlement to Pakistani families of two men killed by a CIA contractor, the US government ‘fully expects to get the bill’ at some point and would pay it, a US official told CNN.

The assertion by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, comes a day after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “The United States does not pay any compensation”.

A lawyer closely connected to the case said this week that the families’ compensation was $1.4 million, but Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that $2.34 million was paid to the legal heirs by the US government.

The US official said the Pakistanis carried out all of the discussions with the families, but the US government was aware of the Pakistani efforts. “The agreement was reached between the families and the Pakistani officials,” the official said.

The official was unaware of any Saudi involvement in the case, whether it be pressure on the Pakistani government to resolve the matter, making the payments to the families or both, but the official would not rule it out as a possibility.

In Highland Park, Colorado, where Davis lives, his wife, Rebecca, defended him in an interview outside their home. She expected her husband to return home in the next week or so. “I knew it was self-defence. He’s not a Rambo, as the LA Times said,” Davis’s wife said. “He’s not an agent. He’s not Jason Bourne. He’s not any of these kind of crazy things that have been portrayed of him,” she added.
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Spell Bounder

I'm journalist in Pakistan,And working in this field about 20 years.