UN group demands release of ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan; says his detention violates international law
ISLAMABAD — A United Nations human rights working group on Monday called for the immediate release of the jailed Pakistanis. former prime minister Imran Khanand said he had been detained âarbitrarily and in violation of international law.â
The Geneva-based United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention made the demand after investigating Khan’s case, in which he was convicted last year on corruption charges.
Khan has faced multiple prison sentences since 2022 when he was deposed by a motion of no confidence in parliament. There was no immediate comment from the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifwho replaced Khan after his ouster.
Khan has been in jail since August 2023, when a court sentenced him to three years in prison after he was found guilty of hiding assets after selling state gifts. It led to Khan being banned from participating in politics and from running in the February 8 election, which his party says was rigged.
Pakistan’s Election Commission, which oversaw the election, denies allegations of vote rigging.
Despite his convictions in multiple cases, Khan remains the main opposition leader.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, which has a strong presence in parliament, welcomed the UN group’s demand, saying Khan’s detention in the corruption case “had no legal basis and appeared aimed at disqualifying him from holding office.” They said “Khan was being detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression or opinion” and was also being denied “fair trial and due process rights.”
The UN working group demanded Khan’s immediate release, saying it was an âappropriate solutionâ.
The group further said that Khan’s conviction in the corruption case was “part of a much larger campaign of repression targeting the PTI in general and Khan in particular”.
It said: “In the run-up to Pakistan’s February 2024 general elections, PTI candidates were arrested, tortured and intimidated into leaving the party; PTI rallies were disrupted and blocked; and the party was stripped of its iconic cricket bat symbol, forcing its candidates to run as independents.”
The UN group also reported that Khan himself faced more than 150 politically motivated criminal cases. Just days before the election, he was convicted in three more cases and given additional sentences of 10 years, 14 years and seven years in prison respectively.
“For Khan, who is 71, the combined sentence of 34 years amounts to a life sentence,” the group said. Khan’s spokesman Zulfi Bukhari welcomed the group’s findings and demands for Khan’s release.
Khan’s party won the most seats in the February 8 election but fell short of the majority to form a government.