Atiqa Odho has finally opened up and talked about being acquitted in a nine-year-old liquor case.
Speaking to various media outlets, Odho said that the case against her was “politically motivated”. Odho had been booked for allegedly smuggling two bottles of foreign liquor in her bag while she was checking in for Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) Karachi-bound flight PK-301 in June 2011. The liquor had been confiscated on the spot as per the law and Odho, who was secretary information of Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) at the time, had been allowed to travel. However, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was CJP back then, took suo motu notice of the incident after the news was widely discussed on television. He directed police and Customs officials to clarify why a case had not been registered against the actor. Following the notice, Customs officials sent a lawsuit to the Airport police station, which then registered a case against Odho under Section 3/4 of the Prohibition Order of 1979.
Odho thanked the judge who accepted her plea and acquitted her. She said that she believes in the law of the land and encouraged everyone to have faith in the judicial system and be patient. She said that over the year, she appeared in court almost a hundred times until she was granted immunity from appearing until the final verdict.
“People have asked me if I was difficult,” said Odho. “Yes, I had to go through pain but justice was delayed, not denied. We should trust the system, go through due process, and if you haven’t done anything wrong, then ask for your right – don’t get scared and don’t run away.”
She added, “Believe in your courts, your judges, your lawyers, and here I would like to add – those who are unfortunate, who don’t have enough resources or money, the judiciary should be mindful of them. There should be a system where the state should help them.”
She also appealed to authorities to fast-track cases of innocent people who are stuck in prison.
“If an innocent person is locked up for years, he will never get those years of his life back. The people who are locked up and the underprivileged should always be prioritised, because if the state does not look after them, they won’t have any hope,” said the actor.
Listen to her complete thoughts here:
