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Updated 07 Jun, 2023 11:12am

US seeks consular access to May 9 riots accused Khadija Shah

A State Department spokesperson said that the United States is following the case of Khadijah Shah and consular access has already been requested.

Shah is a leading Pakistani fashion designer with dual nationality and has been accused of involvement in May 9 riots that Defense Minister Khawaja Asif recently described as a mutiny which was put down by the state of Pakistan.

“We’ve been following the case of Khadija Shah and have asked Pakistani officials for consular access to her,” deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“As we – I’ve previously said, we always urge foreign governments to allow and follow consular notifications for procedures when American citizens are detained.”

Vedant added that he believed Shah was a dual national so the Pakistani government was being directly engaged on the matter.

The spokesperson said that whenever a US citizen is arrested abroad, the government tries to provide all the assistance it can.

“We expect Pakistani authorities to respect all free – all fair trial guarantees owed to these detainees.”

However, he added that he would have to ‘check’ about the exact number of US citizens under custody in Pakistan adter the incidents of May 9.

“Obviously these circumstances, depending on privacy considerations, we’ll have to circle back on that,” Vedant said.

Khadijah Shah has been accused of being involved in the riots at the Corps Commander House in Lahore on May 9 after Imran Khan’s arrest. She is currently in jail in Lahore after surrendering to authorities.

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