Amid domestic unrest in Pakistan, the United States on Monday expressed support for freedom of expression without any violence and reiterated that a strong, stable and prosperous Pakistan is essential to its ties with the country.
“We believe that individuals should have the freedom to express themselves, but to do so without engaging in any violence, violence that could harm government employees in government buildings. And specifically about the arrest, I talked a little bit about that last week,” Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily press conference, referring to the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Pakistan Rangers last week.
“The United States does not stand for one political party or one candidate or another. It is our view that a strong, stable and prosperous Pakistan is essential to US-Pakistan relations and that any arrest of such an individual violates basic human rights under their laws,” he said in response to a question on ongoing developments in Pakistan .
Asked about press freedom in Pakistan, Patel said he would not dictate the current situation.
“I have no rating from here. But in general we are very clear about the need for media access and access to information and the free flow of information between the government and journalists,” he said.
Khan’s arrest on the premises of the Supreme Court in Islamabad last Tuesday sparked riots in Pakistan that continued into Friday, leading to several deaths and dozens of military and government installations destroyed by protesters.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, protesters attacked the Army Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also set fire to the house of the Corps Commander in Lahore.
Police put the death toll in the violent clashes at 10, while Khan’s party says 40 of its workers have lost their lives in firing by security operatives.
On Monday, Khan appeared before the Lahore High Court, which on Tuesday fixed his bail in terrorism cases registered against him following his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, which sparked violent protests by his supporters.
