ISLAMABAD: In its opinion on PTI founder Imran Khan’s prosecution and detention — in the cipher and one of the two Toshakhana cases against him — the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has held that the cases were “without legal basis” and politically motivated to exclude him from competing in the political arena.

Listing many legal inconsistencies and irregularities in the various court proceedings of the PTI chief, the body said it was rendering its opinion on whether Imran’s detention was arbitrary and that he should be released immediately.

According to its website, the working group has the mandate to investigate cases of deprivation of liberty “imposed arbitrarily or inconsistently with the international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the international legal instruments accepted by the states concerned”.

Listing many legal inconsistencies and irregularities in the various court proceedings against the PTI chief, the body said it was rendering its opinion on whether Mr Khan’s detention was arbitrary.

In its opinion, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calls on govt to release PTI founder

The report, dated June 18, noted that the government of Pakistan had been transmitted a communication on Mr Khan’s case in Nov 2023, but had not received a response, nor a request to extend the time limit to reply.

Now, the working group has requested the government to take the steps necessary to “remedy the situation of Mr Khan without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms”.

The working group noted how Mr Khan was convicted in the first Toshakhana case — through a summary judgement delivered in absentia — and his subsequent arrest by law enforcement personnel, who broke into his residence and assaulted him and his staff, was concerning and compounded the illegality.

The working group further said that Mr Khan’s prosecution in the cipher case “lacks a grounding in law, as his actions do not appear to have violated the Official Secrets Act, as was apparently corroborated by the intelligence services, according to the source’s unrebutted submissions”.

Regarding his sentences in the second Toshakhana case and the Iddat case, the UN group noted: “The working group cannot but observe the coincidence in the timing of the four prosecutions, which effectively prevented Mr Khan from contesting the general election originally scheduled for November 2023.”

In its opinion, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr Khan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.

It has also called on the government to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr Khan and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.

The working group has referred the case to the office of two UN special rapporteurs for appropriate action.

Cases against Mr Khan

The first Toshakhana case alleged that Mr Khan had “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from the state repository during his time as the prime minister. Meanwhile, the second case concerns a reference against him and his wife Bushra Bibi, for retaining a jewellery set received from the Saudi crown prince, against an undervalued assessment.

On Aug 5, 2023, a trial court had convicted the PTI founder in the first case, filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and jailed him for three years. He was arrested by Punjab police later that day from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.

The ECP had later disqualified him for five years following his conviction. However, the Islamabad High Court subsequently suspended his three-year sentence.

The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by then-PM Imran, who long held that the document contained a threat from the US to topple his government.

PTI reaction

Reacting to the working group’s opinion, the PTI termed it a “huge” development.

“The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, based in Geneva after months of work has given their official opinion. This is huge and reveals that Imran Khan’s detention is illegal and should [be] released immediately,” Mr Khan’s former aide Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari posted on X.

“The Working Group concludes that his detention had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running from political office. I thank everyone who has worked tirelessly on this case in the UN. This no longer an ‘internal matter’,” Mr Bukhari wrote.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2024