British mum held with new baby in nightmare Pakistan jail
Sunday 28 October 2012
Printable
EmailLegal action charity Reprieve today warned that a newborn girl is being held with her British mother in a notorious Pakistani jail.
Birmingham-born Khadija Shah, 25, has been held in Adiala prison since May on alleged drug charges and gave birth to Malaika in September.
Reprieve said the baby has so far had none of its immunisations and was taken to hospital when she was just a few days old with serious diarrhoea.
Ms Shah faces the death penalty if found guilty of attempting to smuggle 63 kilos of heroin out of Pakistan, a charge she denies.
Adiala is known for its dangerously unhygienic conditions, including a severe TB outbreak in August.
Reprieve investigator Sultana Noon said: "To keep a baby behind bars is truly barbaric.
"The British government must do everything they can to help Khadija so that baby Malaika can get the care every newborn deserves."
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