News Desk

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, expressed optimism that imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan’s situation will improve.

“We [UN Secretary-General] want to see the current political situation, the current situation of Mr [Imran] Khan, evolve in a much more positive way,” the spokesperson for Guterres stated in response to a question posed on Tuesday during the daily press conference. The founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khan, has been imprisoned since last August and was found guilty in certain cases in advance of the February national election.

Amidst numerous other current court proceedings, Khan’s party asserts that the accusations were driven by political motives to obstruct his comeback to power.

“The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) unanimously recommended Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, be released without conditions,”

was the question. Does the SG endorse this suggestion?

Khan’s conviction for leaking state secrets was reversed, and courts in two cases involving the unlawful purchase and sale of state gifts have suspended Khan’s jail terms. Imran Khan should be released right now, the UNWGAD said in a Monday opinion, adding that the politician’s arbitrary incarceration was against international law.

As stated by the UN panel on arbitrary imprisonment in Geneva:

“An 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.”

It went on to say that Khan and his party [PTI] were the targets of a “much larger campaign of repression” in addition to his legal issues. It stated that Khan’s party members were detained, beaten, and had their rallies interrupted in the run-up to the 2024 elections.

It further claimed

“widespread fraud on election day, stealing dozens of parliamentary seats.”

Khan’s detention and the cases against him are considered a “internal matter” of Pakistan, according to Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, who dismissed the UN report on Tuesday. The law minister stated in a statement released on Tuesday that

“the PTI founder has all the rights according to the country’s constitution, law, and international standards.”

The former prime minister was incarcerated as a convicted prisoner, according to Tarar, who also stated that Pakistan’s courts uphold the country’s constitution and current laws as an independent state.