UK parliamentarians call for release of Imran Khan

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been behind bars for over a year for multiple cases of corruption and sedition, is receiving open support from parliamentarians from countries like the United Kingdom.

British parliamentarians have called on the Pakistan government for the release of Khan, terming his arrest and imprisonment as part of a political agenda to suppress the government’s opposition movements.

Over 20 cross-party UK parliamentarians have signed an appeal through a letter by Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson, urging the Foreign Secretary David Lammy to engage with the Shehbaz Sharif-led government of Pakistan for the immediate release of former premier and leader of political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan.

The appeal letter through MP Kim Johnson came through a request of Imran Khan’s advisor on international affairs, Zulfi Bukhari, and was signed by members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

UK parliamentarians have expressed serious concerns over the detention and treatment of former Pakistani PM Imran Khan, terming Khan’s incarceration as a politically motivated move to ensure that he was kept behind bars and disqualified from being in the electoral race.

“We are writing with grave concern about the continued detention of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. As you will know, Mr Khan was imprisoned in 2023 in a move which the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office. Thus, from the outset, that prosecution was not grounded in law and was reportedly instrumental for a political purpose,” read the letter.

The letter warned and expressed fear that Imran Khan’s imprisonment may serve as a precedent to suppress political opponents and the legal grounds may be misused and manipulated for political motives by the ruling party against its opposition.

The letter highlighted that Imran Khan was denied his basic right to prepare for defence in at least three trials, adding that the consistent flow of cases being piled up against Imran Khan seems to follow a pattern.

“Cases being piled up against Imran Khan are now consistent with a pattern of misuse of the justice system in Pakistan to intimidate, harass and target political opposition leaders – while infringing upon the enshrined independence of the judiciary,” the letter read.

They urged him to initiate a dialogue with Pakistan’s government to secure Imran’s immediate release from pre-trial detention.

The letter also raised serious concerns over the possibilities that Imran Khan’s cases may be decided through a military court, with parliamentarians warning that such a move would only represent illegal intensification.

“Following a recent review of Mr Khan’s case, Amnesty International has found that there has been a pattern of weaponisation of the legal system to keep Imran Khan under detention and away from political activity,” read the letter.

“The recently passed 26th Constitutional Amendment would constitute an assault on the principle of a separation of powers codified in the country’s Constitution,” the letter added.

The letter also mentioned the recent ongoing clampdown against members, leaders, and political figures of Imran Khan’s political party PTI from holding public rallies, despite acquiring prior permission from the relevant government authorities.

“It appears that Pakistani authorities unfairly invoked a new Public Order Act to detain PTI supporters,” the letter read.