PTI founder’s arrest an ‘internal matter’, Pakistan on UN body’s report

ISLAMABAD: In response to a report by United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding PTI founder Imran Khan’s detention, Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday called the arrest and pending cases against him an “internal matter of Pakistan”.

“Pakistan was a sovereign state and its court enforced its Constitution and laws, and took decisions accordingly,” the minister said in a statement.

Responding to the UN body’s report, the minister said the PTI founder was in the jail as a convicted prisoner. He had all rights as per the Constitution of Pakistan and laws. and international norms.

He said the relief given to the PTI founder by the courts in many cases manifested a transparent and fair trial of his cases by the judiciary. “It was biased and unfair to make demands beyond the ambit of Constitution, law and international norms”, he added.

The United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demanded the immediate release of PTI founder Imran Khan, maintaining that he was detained in ‘violation of international law’.

“(The) appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Khan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law,” the Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention maintained read in its report.

The UN body also maintained that Imran Khan was ‘reportedly instrumentalized for a political purpose’.

Read More: UN body demands immediate release of Imran Khan

“(The) working group concludes that his (Imran Khan) detention 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 instrumentalised for a political purpose,” the report read.

It is pertinent to mention here that the former prime minister has been behind bars since August 2023 and was later convicted in Toshakhana, Cipher, and cases Iddat.

Imran Khan’s convictions in the Toshakhana and Cipher cases have been suspended while he is still in prison in the Iddat case.