Over 20 UK parliamentarians from various parties have urged Foreign Secretary David Lammy to communicate with the Pakistani government in order to secure the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is the founding leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
The appeal was made in a letter spearheaded by Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson, following a request from Khan’s advisor on international affairs, Zulfi Bukhari. The letter was signed by members from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Signatories include MPs Kim Johnson, Paula Barker, Apsana Begum, Liam Byrne, Rosie Duffield, Gill Furniss, Paulette Hamilton, Peter Lamb, Andy McDonald, and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, along with Lords Peter Hain, John Hendy, and Todoanfel.
In the letter, the parliamentarians voiced serious concerns regarding Khan’s detention, believing it to be a politically motivated act aimed at preventing him from participating in elections. They noted that Khan has been in custody since 2023, warning that his imprisonment could set a troubling precedent for suppressing political opponents in Pakistan.
“We are writing with grave concern about the continued detention of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. As you may know, Mr. Khan was imprisoned in 2023 in a move that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found to lack a legal basis and appeared to be intended to disqualify him from political office. Thus, from the outset, that prosecution was not grounded in law and was reportedly used for political purposes,” the letter states.
The parliamentarians further highlighted that Khan had been denied sufficient time and resources to prepare his defense in at least three trials. They emphasized that the accumulating charges against him indicate a broader pattern of the justice system being misused to intimidate and harass political opposition leaders, undermining judicial independence.
They urged Lammy to initiate dialogue with the Pakistani government to facilitate Khan’s immediate release from pre-trial detention. The letter raised concerns over the possibility that Khan’s fate might be decided by a military court, a move they described as a troubling and illegal escalation.
Amnesty International’s recent review of Khan’s case noted “a pattern of weaponization of the legal system to keep Imran Khan under detention and away from all political activity.”
Additionally, the letter pointed out that the recently passed 26th Constitutional Amendment represents an assault on the principle of separation of powers enshrined in Pakistan’s Constitution. It also mentioned further anti-democratic actions against Khan’s PTI party, including the arrests of parliamentarians and high-profile activists. Despite obtaining prior permission to hold a rally in Islamabad, Pakistani authorities reportedly misapplied a new Public Order Act to detain PTI supporters.
