Members of the US Congress Joe Wilson and August Pfluger sent a joint letter to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asking him to engage with the military regime of Pakistan to guarantee the release of the former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The letter, dated February 25, said that Khan’s imprisonment, which began in August 2023, is the result of political charges. He refers to the eviction of Khan in 2022 by a vote of non-confidence as a “suspension of democracy” in Pakistan, leading to tense links between the two countries.
Wilson, an eminent member of the committees of the Chamber of Foreign Affairs and Armed Services and a close friend of the American President Donald Trump, with PFLUGER, president of the Republican Study Committee, expressed their concern concerning the imprisonment of Khan and his implications for American-Pakistani relations.
In the letter, Wilson and Pfluger claim that Khan is widely loved in Pakistan and that his release would mark the start of a new era in American-Pakistani relations based on shared values of freedom. They compared Khan’s situation to that of Trump, suggesting that Khan, like Trump, is the victim of judicial abuse.
Congress members also called Rubio to work with Pakistan to restore democracy, human rights, law and fundamental guarantees of regular procedure, press freedom, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression in the country.
They stressed that Khan deserves to be treated like any other politician and should not be imprisoned for his political opinions.
Wilson had previously published on his account X calling for the release of Khan and shared a copy of the letter to Rubio, expressing the hope that American-Pakistani relations could be reinforced by respect for freedom.
The letter concludes by declaring that the force of American-Pakistani relations depends on the freedom of Imran Khan, with Wilson and Pfluger urging Rubio to act decisively.