Detention of Imran Khan violates international law: UN
The detention of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is arbitrary and violates international law, according to a UN human rights working group. In an opinion released on Monday, the group called for Khan's immediate release.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, based in Geneva, stated that 'the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Khan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.'
The working group highlighted that Khan's legal challenges are part of a broader "campaign of repression" against him and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. In the lead-up to the 2024 elections, it reported that PTI members were arrested and tortured, their rallies disrupted, and 'widespread fraud on election day, stealing dozens of parliamentary seats.'
The Pakistani embassy in Washington did not immediately comment, while Pakistan's election commission denies any election rigging.
Khan has been imprisoned since last August and was convicted in several cases before the national election in February. He is also facing numerous ongoing cases, which he and his party claim are politically motivated to prevent his return to power.
Recently, Pakistani courts have suspended Khan's jail sentences in two cases involving the illegal acquisition and sale of state gifts and overturned his conviction on charges of leaking state secrets. However, he remains in prison due to a conviction related to his 2018 marriage, deemed unlawful by a trial court. Additionally, Khan faces a trial on anti-terrorism charges linked to violence in May last year.
Imran Khan, who came to power in 2018, was ousted in 2022 after a fallout with Pakistan's powerful military. He has alleged that both the US and the Pakistani military were involved in his ousting through a parliamentary no-confidence vote.
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