ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) on Saturday revoked the services of Geoffrey Robertson KC after receiving severe criticism in the media following the announcement that party Chairman Imran Khan had hired the British lawyer to represent him in international courts in cases related to “unlawful detention and human rights abuses”.
After suffering a backlash, PTI deleted the tweet within hours and terminated the services of the UK lawyer.
On September 1, Doughty Street International tweeted: “Former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and PTI has appointed the eminent human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson KC of Doughty Street Chambers to advise and represent him in international courts in relation to unlawful detention and human rights abuses.”
PTI responded from its official X — formerly known as Twitter — account with confirmation that Roberston has been hired.
PTI announced: “PTI chairman, Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed the eminent human rights Barrister Geoffrey Robertson KC of Doughty Street Chambers to advise and represent him in international courts in relation to unlawful detention and human rights abuses.”
A PTI source in Islamabad said that the decision to hire Robertson was taken by Khan on the advice of Omar Ayub Khan, Zulfi Bukhari and his lawyers in Pakistan after consulting “some important people in the UK”.
Khan’s adviser for international affairs Sayed Zulfi Bukhari quoted PTI’s tweet about hiring Robertson and said: “Geoffrey Robertson KC is a world-renowned Human Rights lawyer and has represented many hundreds of people who have suffered human rights abuses including unlawful detention. He successfully represented President Lula da Silva of Brazil at the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva for the human rights and legal abuses he suffered by a biased judiciary in Brazil. He enjoys a distinguished career as a trial and appellate counsel, an international judge, and author of leading books on trials for human rights and Global Justice. IA soon the injustices will be exposed.”
PTI leader Shahbaz Gill said: “After getting disappointed from Chief Justice Bandial and his courts, now the case of our Captain will be fought in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), international lawyers have been engaged.”
Doughty Street Chambers said it has been told by PTI that Robertson’s services will not be required due to criticism in Pakistan.
