About 60 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to pressure Pakistan to release imprisoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan. .
“We write today to urge the government of Pakistan to use its substantial influence to secure the release of political prisoners, including former Prime Minister Khan, and to curb widespread human rights abuses. write,” the lawmakers said in a letter Wednesday.
U.S. Representative Greg Cassar, who led the letter, said it was the first time multiple U.S. members of Congress had collectively called for the release of Khan, a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy who had a rocky relationship with Washington. He said that.
Imran has been in jail since August 2023 and has faced dozens of lawsuits since he was removed from office as prime minister in April 2022 in a vote of no confidence in parliament. His party claims more than 200 incidents are politically motivated.
Most of the cases brought against him have been acquitted or granted bail.
Most of the pending cases against him are related to the May 9 violence incident. Khan has denied responsibility and has been acquitted or granted bail in many of these cases.
He also faced a £190m Al Qadir University land corruption case. The lawsuit alleges that Imran and Bushra acquired land worth billions of rupees and hundreds of kanals in order to legalize 50 billion rupees (then £190 million); It is said to have been identified and returned by the UK during the PTI government in 2019.
Imran claims the case against him, which disqualified him from running in the February 2024 elections, is politically motivated. The United Nations Human Rights Working Group said in July that Imran’s detention violated international law.
Imran criticized his ouster after his ouster, accusing Pakistan’s military of being at the mercy of the United States.
He singled out top US diplomat Donald Leu for his involvement in Washington’s alleged role in orchestrating the president’s ouster through a vote of no confidence.
Both the US and Pakistani military have denied any involvement in Imran Khan’s ouster, saying it was a democratic process.
The political turmoil surrounding Imran has intensified since his arrest on corruption charges on May 9, 2023, with attacks on his supporters and party leaders, including an attack on the military headquarters in Rawalpindi and the burning of the military commander’s residence in Lahore. sparked widespread violent protests by .
After the riots, an audio conversation surfaced on social media in which Imran purportedly contacted US Congresswoman Maxine Moore Waters, pleading with her to speak out against human rights abuses reported in Pakistan.
The former prime minister expressed concern, saying the crackdown on PTI members, which began soon after the violence following his arrest, has escalated.
Meanwhile, Democratic politicians also expressed concern about reports of fraud in Pakistan’s elections.
Pakistan’s government denies that Imran was treated unfairly, and the Election Commission denies that the election was fraudulent.
Although Imran did not run, the candidates he supported secured the most seats. However, it was still unable to gather the support of its allies to meet the required number of seats to form a government. However, his rivals won a majority and formed a coalition government.
Pakistan’s elections have largely faced accusations of opacity and fraud. The loser usually cries foul, as was the case in 2013, 2018, and 2024.
Imran Khan’s own rise to power in 2018 was marred by pre-poll fraud and opposition claims that he had been given favors by the establishment.
At that time, the leadership of the country’s current main ruling parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), were opposition parties, and like current President Imran’s PTI, they were subject to a crackdown based on corruption. I was facing it.
The then PML-N and PPP claimed that the case against them was politically motivated and fabricated to weaken their pre-election position to bring Imran Khan to power. I was doing it.
The 2024 poll had the lowest fairness score of any general election held since 2000, according to a study by the Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Transparency (Pirdat). The 2013 election was given the highest fairness score.
