A United Nations human rights working group says former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arbitrarily detained in violation of international law.
In an opinion issued Monday, the Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said “the appropriate remedy is to immediately release Mr Khan and accord him the right to compensation and other enforceable reparations, in accordance with international law”.
“[Kelompok kerja] concluded that his detention had no legal basis and appeared to be intended to disqualify him from running for political office. Thus, from the outset, the prosecution was unlawful and reportedly used for political purposes,” the UN working group said in an opinion dated March 25 but only made public Monday.
The group of five independent experts, whose opinions are not binding but carry reputational weight, said Khan’s legal troubles were part of a “much larger campaign of repression” once morest him and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
It said that in the run-up to the 2024 general election, Khan’s party members were arrested and tortured and their rallies were disrupted. The group also alleged “widespread fraud on election day, stealing dozens of parliamentary seats”.
Pakistan’s government has not commented on the opinion. The country’s election commission denies that the February vote was rigged.
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A series of cases
Since being removed from office as prime minister in April 2022, Khan, 71, has been involved in more than 200 legal cases and has been in jail since August last year. He has said the cases are politically motivated and orchestrated by his political enemies to keep him out of power.
Last week, a court in Islamabad rejected a plea to suspend the prison sentences of Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, whose marriage was declared illegal under Islamic law.
In April this year, a Pakistani high court suspended 14-year prison sentences for Khan and his wife in a corruption case. Khan also had another 10-year sentence on treason charges overturned this month.
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However, he remains in Adiala prison, south of the capital Islamabad, on a conviction for illegal marriage.
Analysts say Pakistan’s powerful military, which has ruled directly for decades and wields immense power, is likely behind the series of cases.
Khan was ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament following falling out with top generals who had once supported him.
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He then launched an unprecedented campaign once morest them, accusing senior military officers of conspiring in an assassination attempt in which he was shot dead at a political rally in November 2022. The military has denied the allegations.
Khan’s brief arrest in May 2023 sparked nationwide unrest, which then prompted a major crackdown on the PTI party and its senior leaders.
PTI candidates were forced to stand as independents in February’s general election, although candidates loyal to the PTI still won more seats than any other party.
However, they were kept out of power by a broad coalition of parties seen as loyal to the military.
On Friday, Pakistan’s lower house of parliament condemned a US congressional resolution calling for an independent investigation into allegations that Pakistan’s elections this year were rigged.
While the Pakistani government expressed anger at the US resolution, Khan’s party praised it, saying their election victory was turned into a defeat by the country’s election commission. (Al Jazeera/Z-3)
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