Imran Khan hired lawyer of damned Rushdie: Ata Tarar

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reacted to reports that Imran Khan has hired British barrister Geoffrey Ronald Robertson to represent him in international courts.

Addressing a press conference, PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar said Khan has crossed all limits to save his politics and is showing enmity to his religion. 

“Geoffrey Robertson has been the lawyer of the damned Salman Rushdie,” he said, revealing that the British barrister has represented the controversial writer.

“After enmity to the state, Imran Khan is now going against Islam,” Tarar also questioned Khan’s announcement to go to the International Court of Justice.

“Chairman PTI’s announcement to go to the International Court is to go against the state and the country,” he said.

Tarar maintained that Imran Khan worked against national institutions and gave evidence of anti-nationalism during May 9 riots. He said the political party attacked the country, adding that one person is misleading the entire youth. 

Imran hires lawyer

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan had hired the internationally renowned barrister Geoffrey Ronald Robertson to represent him in international courts in cases related to “unlawful detention and human rights abuses.”

The PTI party has faced a countrywide crackdown since Imran Khan’s first brief arrest on May 9  that sparked widespread protests that saw mobs ransacking state installations, including military assets.

He faces a long legal battle before he can make a political comeback ahead of the election expected early next year.

“PTI Chairman, Former Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI has appointed the eminent Human Rights Barrister Geoffrey Robertson KC of @DoughtyStreet Chambers to advise and represent him in international courts in relation to unlawful detention and human rights abuses,” the PTI said.

Robertson has successfully represented The Guardian, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, among other media outfits. His clients include heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, Dow Jones and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

He has appeared in cases before the European Court of Human Rights and in other courts around the world and has been on several human rights missions on behalf of Amnesty International, including in Mozambique, Venda, Czechoslovakia, Malawi, Vietnam and South Africa.

In 2015, Robertson represented Armenia with barrister Amal Clooney at the European Court of Human Rights and since 2016 has been representing Lula da Silva, the current president of Brazil.