Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
A UK lawyer was detained in a secret location by unidentified agents on arrival in Pakistan for almost a week, then made to record a political statement under duress condemning his own political party, sources have told Tortoise. Abdullah Kahloon, a 36 year-old criminal barrister and father of two, was seized moments after he cleared immigration at Islamabad International Airport on 9 January. Kahloon has been released but is being held under effective house arrest and is banned from leaving the country. Kahloon had flown to Pakistan in a bid to take part in next month’s elections, standing for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Khan is currently in prison and a number of PTI members have been detained or harrassed in recent months. Khan’s arrest on 9 May last year sparked nationwide protests and Kahloon has been accused of involvement in the storming of Pakistan’s army headquarters in Lahore on the same day, even though video and photo evidence indicates he was 400km away at the time.