Dear Mr Townend KC (Chair of the Bar Council) and all other Officers of the Bar Council,

We, the undersigned, are all lawyers in England and Wales and have been following with concern the case of Abdullah Kahloon, a fellow lawyer and barrister, who has been unlawfully detained in Pakistan. Many members of the profession and the public more generally have been sharing their concerns on social media and this case has been reported on widely in the press.

We understand that the Bar Council, and others, have been informed of this situation and that considerations are being made as to how to best assist Abdullah in this unfortunate situation. We welcome this.

With the concern for Abdullah and his welfare growing every day, we hereby call on the Bar Council, together with partners in the legal community, to provide all the practical and legal support possible to Abdullah and his family at this troubling time.

We understand that Abdullah's family is also of the belief that a public statement of concern from the Bar Council, as the representative body for barristers in England and Wales and thus for Abdullah, calling for those holding him unlawfully to disclose his whereabouts and condition and respect his human rights, would be of benefit. We hereby call on the Bar Council to make such a statement on behalf of all members of the legal profession, ourselves included.

The English Bar of course champions justice and respect for the rule of law throughout England and Wales and beyond, and it is imperative that this is extended to cases such as Abdullah's, a fellow member of the Bar, where justice and respect for the rule of law appear to be lacking and there is acute concern for his wellbeing.

With kind regards,

The Undersigned

***PLEASE ONLY SIGN IF YOU ARE A LAWYER (BARRISTER, SOLICITOR OR CILEX LAWYER) IN ENGLAND AND WALES***

Useful links for background:

Dawn Newspaper (Pakistan): High Court summons top officials over ‘missing’ PTI candidate

The News (Pakistan): Islamabad High Court Reprimands Authorities After PTI Candidate Goes Missing

Twitter/X Post: Abdullah Kahloon - What is the status and how did it get to this point?