ISLAMABAD: The government and its allies on Tuesday rejected the recommendations of a UN working group regarding the detention of PTI founder Imran Khan and termed it a conspiracy against the institutions.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention — which has the mandate to investigate cases of deprivation of liberty by governments — had on Monday said the cases against Mr Khan were “without legal basis” and politically motivated to exclude him from the political arena.

The panel said that the appropriate remedy would be to release and compensate Mr Khan.

This was the second disapproval at the international level of the government’s action against PTI and its incarcerated foun­der within a week.

Last week, the US House of Representatives, in a rare display of bipartisan support, passed a resolution calling upon Pakis­tan to thoroughly probe the allegation of irregularities in the Feb 8 elections. It also urged President Joe Biden to collaborate with Pakistan to uphold democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

‘Internal matter’

In a statement on Tuesday, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar rebuffed the working group’s recommendations — which are legally non-binding — and said the former premier’s detention was an “internal matter”.

He added that courts took legal action against the PTI founder in light of the Constitution and prevailing laws.

“The PTI founder is entitled to all rights under the Constitution and laws, as well as international principles,” Mr Tarar said, adding that the ex-PM was currently in jail as a convicted prisoner.

Mr Khan is currently serving his seven-year jail term in the Iddat case, while his sentences in the two Toshakhana cases — which were criticised by the group for procedural “illegalities” — have already been suspended by the Islamabad High Court.

‘Malicious campaign’

Meanwhile, Awn Chaudhry, once a close confidant of Mr Khan and now an ally of the federal government, has blamed some PTI leaders for “hatching a conspiracy against Pakistan”.

He accused PTI leader and Mr Khan’s close friend, Zulfi Bukhari, of filing an application before the UN panel to “malign state institutions like the army and judiciary”.

“Some of the elements [within PTI], including Zulfi Bukhari, are playing a dirty game against the country for which they have hired a public relations firm in the United Kingdom,” said Mr Chaudhry, whose Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party is part of the PML-N-led federal government.

“I know with whom he [Mr Bukhari] has close links and from where the money came to launch a malicious campaign against Pakistan,” he claimed.

Mr Chaudhry claimed that PTI hired the firm in 2016 to build its image internationally. “However, the firm has been used against Pakistan and to malign the army and judiciary.”

“These people, while sitting abroad, launch a campaign against the army and misguide the youth that resulted in May 9 mayhem,” Mr Chaudhry said in an apparent reference to Mr Bukhari, who is based in England.

He, too, added that Mr Khan was sent behind bars by the courts.

He claimed that PTI leaders had been involved in “the worst kind of corruption” and that he knew “who acquired properties and agricultural lands”.

US response

The US State Department has also reiterated that the detention of Mr Khan was Pakistan’s “internal matter”.

In his daily press briefing on Monday, State Department’s Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel was asked about the UN group’s opinion and the US position on it. “I’ll let the United Nations offer any clarity on the comments that they’ve provided. And in the case of Mr Khan … This is an internal matter for Pakistan,” he responded.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2024