The case against the British Pakistani design engineer Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh was dismissed for the second time; this time by a Greek judge. The Pakistani architect is accused of the collapse of the Margalla Tower, an apartment tower in F-10, a residential sector in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. In the 2005 earthquake, the Margalla Tower fell down killing many residents.
Last month, Interpol arrested Sheikh in Athens, Greece. The Greek judge dealing with the extradition matter of the Pakistani architect decided to dismiss the case as Pakistan failed to make a formal request for his extradition within the statutory period of 40 days as defined by Article 16 of the Greek criminal code.
Sheikh had also been arrested in Barcelona back in November 2009. Then again, the Pakistani authorities did not send a formal request for his extradition. After about three months of detention, Sheikh was freed.
For the history, Sheikh had his design approved by the Capital Development Authority (CDA, a public benefit corporation responsible for providing municipal services in the city of Islamabad but was then accused for the Margalla Tower’s collapse. According to the decision of a court in the city of Pindi, Pakistan, all defendants were declared not guilty as “the collapse of the Margalla Tower was due to the unprecedented earthquake of 2005, as an act of God, with no-one responsible for it.”
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