US asks Pakistan for consular access to Imran Khan supporter Khadija Shah

The United States has called on Pakistan to grant consular access to Khadija Shah, a prominent fashion designer with dual citizenship who was detained during the recent series of protests witnessed in the South Asian nation.

Speaking to the press during a media briefing on Tuesday (June 6th) State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel confirmed Shah's dual nationality and stated that the US has requested consular access to her.

What theState Departmentspokesperson said

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"Shah is a dual national and so we continue to engage directly with the governmentofPakistan."

"We've been following the case and have asked Pakistani officials for consulate access to her," said Patel during the media briefing.

"As we previously said, we always urge foreign governments to follow consular notifications for all procedures when American citizens are detained," he said while answering a question about Shah's arrest.

The US State Department spokesperson also mentioned that additional US citizens have been arrested in Pakistan. He added that the US government is prepared to provide "appropriate assistance" and expects Pakistani authorities to uphold the detainees' fair-trial rights.

"Whenever a US citizen is arrested overseas, we stand ready to provide all appropriate assistance and we expect Pakistani authorities to respect all fair-trial guarantees owed to these detainees," said Patel, as cited by news agency AFP.

Who is Khadija Shah?

Khadija Shah is the founder of luxury fashion brands 'Elan' and 'Zaha'. She was brought before an anti-terrorism court following the protests triggered by the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 9.

According to Shah's family, she participated in peaceful protests on May 9, during which some demonstrators criticised the influential military and alleged a plot to sideline Imran Khan. Shah's family claims that she willingly appeared for questioning but was subsequently arrested. When she appeared in court, her face was covered, they added.

Shah, as per reports, is one of the prime suspects in the Jinnah House vandalism case. Recently, a video of the Imran Khan supporter apologising for her involvement in the violent events of May 9 surfaced. In the video, Shah alleged that the Pakistan Army barged into her home and roughened up her family members.

"They (authorities) barged into my house at midnight and abducted my husband and father. They roughed up my husband in front of our children... my domestic workers were also subjected to torture."

Imran Khan's detention and subsequent arrests

Since the Supreme Court ruled that Khan's detention was illegal and allowed him to be released, thousands of individuals, including grassroots supporters and Khan's key aides, have been rounded up by Pakistani authorities.

(With inputs from agencies)

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