U.S. demands release of American diplomat in Pakistan, says he has immunity
January 29th, 2011 - 5:38 pm ICT by BNO NewsISLAMABAD (BNO NEWS) — The United States on Saturday urged authorities in the Pakistani city of Lahore to immediately release an American diplomat who is being held in the shooting deaths of two Pakistani men.
The shooting happened on Thursday in Lahore when Raymond David, a staff member of the U.S. Consulate, was confronted by two armed men on motorcycles. David claimed they were attempting to rob him and said he acted in self-defense.
“The diplomat had every reason to believe that the armed men meant him bodily harm,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. “Minutes earlier, the two men, who had criminal backgrounds, had robbed money and valuables at gunpoint from a Pakistani citizen in the same area.”
The Embassy said David identified himself to police as a diplomat and repeatedly requested immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. “Local police and senior authorities failed to observe their legal obligation to verify his status with either the U.S. Consulate General in Lahore or the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad,” the statement said. “Furthermore, the diplomat was formally arrested and remanded into custody, which is a violation of international norms and the Vienna Convention, to which Pakistan is a signatory.”
Pakistani police have continued to ignore David’s diplomatic immunity and indicated that they want to bring him to trial on murder charges.
- U.S.-Afghan-Pakistan trilateral meeting postponed amid prisoner row - Feb 13, 2011
- US seeks custody of double murder-accused diplomat in Pak over diplomatic immunity - Jan 30, 2011
- No diplomatic immunity for murder-accused US consulate worker: Pak official - Jan 30, 2011
- Pak Punjab Govt. won't bow to pressure in murder-accused US diplomat's trial: Shahbaz - Feb 01, 2011
- Pak brushes off US' demand for double murder accused diplomat's immediate release - Jan 30, 2011
- Diplomats can be tried for 'grave' criminal acts despite immunity, say Pak experts - Feb 02, 2011
- US demands immediate release of 'diplomat' charged with Lahore double murder - Jan 29, 2011
- US stands by double murder-accused US diplomat's action as 'self defence' - Feb 01, 2011
- Double murder-accused American diplomat in Lahore is a "former US Army officer" - Feb 06, 2011
- Pak ignored 'witness accounts, physical proof that show Davis acted in self-defense': US - Feb 12, 2011
- US diplomat kills three Pakistanis in Lahore - Jan 28, 2011
- US calls off Afghan-Pak trilateral meeting in retaliation to Davis detention issue - Feb 13, 2011
- Wahab's stand on 'illegal detention' of Davis not Pak Govt or PPP's views: Babar - Feb 15, 2011
- We need time to decide US official's case: Islamabad - Feb 05, 2011
- US seeks immediate release of Davis - Feb 12, 2011
Tags: american diplomat, armed men, authorities, citizen, criminal backgrounds, deaths, diplomatic immunity, gunpoint, international norms, lahore, legal obligation, motorcycles, murder charges, pakistan, pakistani police, self defense, staff member, two men, valuables, vienna convention on diplomatic relations