Ul Haq Zaher

Ul Haq Zaher was botn in Mardan, Pakistan, on March 28, 1963, and arrived in Italy in 1986. He was living in Sora (FR), was unemployed and was known also by his aliases, Had Aminul and Amin. He was accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, and of being part of a criminal association composed of several individuals of Pakistani origins across Italy, who trafficked people into Italy illegally and helped them stay by providing them with fake documents or job permits. His arrest was part of a broader operation of the DIGOS to apprehend members of a terrorist cell close to al-Qaeda and other jihadist organisations, operating between Olbia and Rome under the direction of Sultan Wali Khan.
Ul Haq Zaher was charged with transnational criminal association and promoting and facilitating illegal immigration from 2005, under Article 416 of the Italian Penal Code, and Law 4 of March 16, 2006, no. 146. According to the prosecution, he worked alongside Sultan Wali Khan and Imitias Khan to secure employment contracts for illegal immigrants coming to Italy. They also had intermediaries in Pakistan who connected migrants with the Italian handlers. Several phone conversations placed Zaher at the centre of the illegal operations, which involved dozens of immigrants, including fifty-three at one point in April 2010, as emerged from a conversation depicting Zaher and Sher Ghani’s roles as handlers.
Ul Haq Zaher, alongside Imitias Khan and Sultan Wali Khan, was also charged with Article Article 12 of the Italian Immigration Law (D.Lgs. 286/1998), for aiding and abetting the illegal immigration of Adnan Roshan in Rome in February 2011. According to the Court, Zaher was responsible for finding Roshan a job, thus facilitating his illegal stay, with the aggravating factor that Zaher was compensated. The Court concluded he was indeed part of a criminal association dealing with illegal immigration.
On April 13, 2019, the Assize Court of Sassari found Ul Haq Zaher guilty of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, sentencing him to seven years in prison and a €25,000 fine, after which he would be expelled and repatriated.