New Delhi, February 22 – Pakistan has long been accused of using transnational repression to silence dissidents living abroad, with the frequency of such incidents rising since General Asim Munir took command of the army in November 2022, according to a media report.
Several analysts and global observers argue that Munir has personally steered this "dangerous" approach and has openly warned individuals associated with former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to a report in Greek City Times.
By portraying opponents as existential threats, Munir justifies surveillance and violence against Pakistani citizens overseas, it said.
Pakistan's 27th Constitutional Amendment, enacted in late 2025, granted Munir "lifetime immunity, created a puppet court, and stripped judicial oversight", leaving him with sweeping power to target dissidents worldwide.
"Pakistan's military establishment is running a dirty transnational repression campaign against dissidents in Western countries. This is not speculation; it is a pattern under which the Pakistani state critics are hunted, threatened, assaulted, and terrorised in their homes abroad, while their families inside Pakistan are squeezed as leverage," the report detailed.
"The military's goal is simple: break critics psychologically, force them into silence, and warn everyone else that exile does not protect them. It is an extension of Pakistan’s domestic coercion model into Western streets, using criminal proxies and deniable intimidation," it added.
The report highlighted that since Munir took command of the Pakistani Army, the transnational repression has intensified, evolving from legal harassment to coordinated acts of violence across Western capitals. The attacks, it said, include the use of firearms, arson, acid, and trained operatives acting in apparent confidence that democratic governments will not intervene.
"The most recent and clearest evidence is in the United Kingdom. In January 2026, the local media reported that Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command took over an investigation into ‘highly targeted’ attacks on Pakistani dissidents living in the UK, including prominent supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan," the report mentioned.
"The attacks were violent and sustained, including assault, a firearm incident, attempted arson, and repeated property damage. One victim, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, a human-rights lawyer and former cabinet member under Khan, was attacked after the assailant confirmed his identity and then punched him repeatedly in front of his family," it stated.
The report emphasised that despite mounting evidence indicating the Pakistani state’s alleged role in transnational repression, Western responses have been "woefully" inadequate.