Pakistan deported a British journalist this week (July 31) who attempted to visit imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to Pakistan media reports.
Charles Glass, reportedly a friend of Khan, arrived in Islamabad last week, but the government denied his request to meet Khan.
Police detained Glass from the house where he was staying and took him to an airport in Islamabad, Geo News reported, citing anonymous Interior Ministry sources.
In a World Press Freedom Day article in May, Glass demanded the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Khan, asserting that both were imprisoned for defying the US.
The deportation occurred a day after Khan, 72, currently in a Rawalpindi jail, offered conditions for talks with Pakistan’s military to resolve the political crisis following his ouster in a no-confidence vote in April 2022.
His conditions include the return of his party’s “stolen mandate,” the release of detained party workers, and the holding of transparent elections.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was stripped of its election symbol in a national vote in February, but independent candidates it supported became the largest group in parliament. However, they couldn’t form a government due to a lack of a post-election alliance.
The PTI accuses the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of “stealing” its mandate through “rigging,” a claim the ECP denies.
Khan stated on X Wednesday that his party would not negotiate with the “puppet regime” because Pakistan is under “undeclared martial law.”
“We prefer negotiations with the military leadership, the actual decision-makers, instead of this puppet government,” he said.
