Former Pakistan Envoy To Italy Dismissed For Sexually Harassing Colleague During Ambassadorship

Former Pakistan Envoy To Italy Dismissed For Sexually Harassing Colleague During Ambassadorship
Pakistan's former ambassador to Italy Nadeem Riaz has been dismissed by the Federal Ombudsperson for sexually harassing his colleague Saira Imdad Ali after the latter won her complaint filed in 2018 against the then envoy.

Although the Ombudsperson ordered dismissal of the envoy, he had already retired in 2020, as the case continued for four years. This means that the dismissal is symbolic. In addition to being dismissed, the accused was also fined a penalty of 5 million rupees.

Saira Ali first registered the case against Riaz in 2018. Accusing him of sexual harassment, she had said that he had made the workplace uncomfortable for her because of his repeated advances.

She tweeted that she had won her sexual harassment case against Nadeem Riaz after a "long fight", and thanked her lawyer and the Federal Ombudsperson Kashmala Tariq in her tweet.

https://twitter.com/SairaaliMM/status/1525489122949099520

The notification of the verdict of the case stated that Nadeem Riaz was to be dismissed from service, and a penalty of Rs 50 lacs was to be imposed on him, to be paid to the complainant as compensation and cost of litigation.



According to the complainant, Riaz had ordered her to travel to places unrelated to her job, and had instructed her to find accommodation near his own place of residence. She also complained of unnecessary day to day communication in uncouth language.

He had also told her to race her car against his bicycle till the Vatican city, and had expressed a desire to become her driver.

Riaz had made comments about 'understanding the plight of being a single woman', and had told her she could come visit his room anytime she wanted. He also narrated the story of his own divorce to her, which she claims was an attempt to gain sympathy.

She also took note of two incidents where Riaz had tried to get inappropriately physically close to her, and said that she had reported the incident to departmental authorities, however the matter was not resolved.

Saira also said that the accused withheld five months of her salary from her, which resulted in a financial loss of 15 lakh rupees.