UK MPs call Imran Khan's release, fair trials, individual sanctions

LONDON: A group of around over a dozen British parliamentarians called for the immediate release and fair trial of Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan, as well all political prisoners facing charges on several counts, including the May 9 and November 26 violence at an event at the Portcullis House on Thursday. 

The event was organised by a newly formed Friends of Democratic Pakistan-UK (FODP), set up by Safina Faisal, who said she took the initiative to highlight the issues, including the "killing of peaceful protestors, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests targeting political workers, women, and journalists. Military trials of civilians and the erosion of democracy demand urgent attention".

The event was chaired by James Frith MP (Labour Party) and addressed by former minister in the Khan's cabinet Zulfi Bukhari, former accountability chief Shehzad Akbar, Lord Daniel Hannan and some activists who alleged violations of their rights for standing up for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). 

The MPs who attended the event included Andrew Pakes (Labour), Naz Shah (Labour), Jeremy Corbyn (Independent), Paul Waugh (Labour), James Asser (Labour), Kate Deardon (Labour), Jas Athwal (Labour), Gurinder Josan (Labour), Margaret Mullaine (Labour), Warinder Juss (Labour), Adnan Hussain (Independent), Preet Kaur (Labour), Ayoub Khan (Independent) and Iqbal Mohamed (Independent). 

Azhar Mashwani and Khan’s nephew Sher Shah also attended the event; however, they didn’t address the gathering.

Friends of Democratic Pakistan’s Faisal called for the accountability of the establishment figures from different institutions over alleged violations of international law.

PTI founder's former adviser and cabinet minister Bukhari claimed that hundreds died during a PTI protest in Islamabad in November. 

He said that a UN Working Group report has categorically said that Khan's detention is illegal and he has been facing inhumane conditions in prison.

"Since April 2022, torture has been used as a weapon to break down our party. Hundreds of our workers, lawmakers and leaders are in jail and have been tortured," he said. 

"Azam Swati and Shehbaz Gill are two examples. They were tortured in daylight because they were close to Khan and stood by him. Intimate videos have been used against our politicians to blackmail them and break them down," Bukhari added. 

Bukhari claimed that Khan remains mostly in solitary confinement and rarely gets the chance to meet his lawyers and family, “His wife was put in prison. She may not have been given poison but was given inadequate food to create massive health issues for her. Things were made so difficult for her at home that she went to the court to petition to be jailed with Imran Khan. His house was completely sealed down to torture her". 

While Akbar in his address stated that Pakistan's democracy has "always been compromised". 

"Transnational repression should concern the UK MPs as this concerns British citizens. I am a victim of that repression. After I moved to the UK, my brother was kidnapped and released only after intervention by my UK MP. Many overseas Pakistanis saw their family members abducted," he said. 

"This is about the erosion and eradication of a whole democratic system. Rigging was done both before and after to steal the people’s mandate. The purpose was to bring new amendments to change the nature and structure of the judiciary. Judges have been kidnapped and blackmailed," he said.  

"This was all done to get the system to surrender to the decision-makers. Military courts were not possible without the 26th Amendment and what’s happening now is for all to see. The power is in the hands of the s=executive, and free judiciary is over in today’s Pakistan," the former minister concluded. 

Lord Hannan said Khan's PTI won the elections of 2023 “massively” but every effort was made to thwart the party from forming government in the centre. 

"Pakistanis have been effectively living under martial law. The killings in Islamabad have been at a different scale. You cannot be indifferent to the agony of democracy in a friendly country. We must raise our voice as there are 1.5 million Pakistanis who are directly affected by what’s happening in Pakistan," Hannan said. 

He said the sanctions don’t work against the states but can work if they are targeted and against the specific, named individuals involved in human rights violations.

At the end of the session, the forum called for the "restoration of judicial independence" and release of all political prisoners, targeted sanctions on the officials responsible for human rights abuses, an independent international investigation into the suppression of peaceful protests and the Pakistan government's role in it, investigate and raise concerns about the transnational repression, bring about the immediate publication of the Commonwealth election observation report, and ensure transparency and fairness of trials.

This hearing follows a similar session held last summer, where UK parliamentarians discussed the detention of former prime minister Khan, whose arrest triggered widespread protests.

A heated argument broke out outside the venue between a group of journalists and the organisers of the event. 

The journalists, who protested, were not allowed entry into the event and were told their names were not approved for coverage.