Washington: Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was given a 10-year term in the cipher case; the US State Department refrained from providing specific commentary on the matter, as The News revealed on Wednesday.
“It’s a matter for the Pakistani courts,” department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated during Tuesday’s daily news briefing.
He insisted that the Pakistani courts should have the last say on Khan’s sentence.
“We have been keeping an eye on the case, or cases, as it were, against the former prime minister, but we have no comments regarding the sentence,” he stated.
In the cipher case, Khan and party leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi were both given 10-year sentences. The allegations concerned the former prime minister’s purported public material.
For the troubled PTI founder, this is his second conviction in as many months. In a prior corruption case, he received a three-year term. His imprisonment was suspended as he contested the conviction for corruption, but it had already disqualified him from running in the general elections that follow next month.
Miller added that the State Department would “defer to Pakistani courts concerning legal matters but of course, we want to see the democratic process unfolding in a way that allows broad participation for all parties and respects democratic principles” in response to questions about the sentence. The former prime minister’s prosecution is a matter of law.
In response to a related question, he stated that the US has no opinion on internal affairs in Pakistan or on Pakistani political candidates.
He stated that Washington still calls for the observance of democratic values, human rights, and the rule of law in Pakistan and around the world. “We want to see a free, fair, and open democratic process and when it comes to legal matters it’s for Pakistani courts to decide,” he added.
The spokesperson added that throughout the course of the next seven to ten days, the US will be keeping an eye on the election process and wants to see a free and fair one.
“There are areas for improvement that we would welcome in Pakistan but there’s not an assessment that we have made in this specific case,” Miller stated.
Miller declined to comment and said he wasn’t familiar with the claims when questioned about the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) delivering notices to 47 journalists for launching a smear campaign against the nation’s courts.
Miller said he would not speak to the opinions of the people of Pakistan in response to a question concerning US President Joe Biden’s attitude regarding Pakistan and whether or not he has garnered more respect in the eyes of the common Pakistani people.He added that Washington will keep pursuing this strategy. “They can obviously speak for themselves, but we have engaged to promote stability in the region, to advance democracy in Pakistan, and to deepen economic ties between the United States and Pakistan, which will ultimately improve the lives of the Pakistani people,” he said.
