Roosevelt Hotel ‘defamatory’ tweet: Zulfi Bukhari sues Reham Khan in London

LONDON: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Assistant Zulfi Bukhari has sued PM Khan’s second former wife Reham Khan for defamation at the London High Court over allegations made in a tweet that Zulfi Bukhari had personal interest in the alleged sale of Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.

The announcement that Zulfi Bukhari has taken legal action for libel at the Royal Court of Justice in London High Court was made by Reham Khan in a statement she released through social media.

Reham Khan posted a link, hosted by her son Sahir Khan, which gave some details of the case, focused only on the Roosevelt Hotel but this reporter has obtained details of the full case from London High Court which establishes that the defamation claim is wider in scope including several other Tweets and Retweets, making allegations of corruption.

The defamation claim relates to a broadcast by Reham Khan on 6th December 2019 on Youtube in an online livestream regarding the possible sale of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. The hotel is owned by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and considered one of the nation’s finest national assets.

Reham Khan tweeted on 6 December 2019 that Pakistan’s national assets were being sold to help people like Zulfi Bukhari and Aneel Musarrat and called it an act of “robbery”. A link to a Youtube commentary was also given in the tweet. Both the tweet and the Youtube link were deleted before the court action started, it’s understood.

Appealing for the support, Reham Khan’s son wrote that “this is going to be a case of critical importance for freedom of expression on matters of demonstrable public interest, Reham Khan simply discussed the matter while demanding transparency over important decisions regarding its administration’ and “this libel case is an attack on freedom of speech and the rights of Pakistanis. Reham Khan has nothing to gain by speaking out about the Roosevelt Hotel but was affected by the series of events, as all patriotic Pakistanis would be. We must fight against tactical suppression of such voices.” Zulfi Bukhari was not available to comment. However, the court papers show that the case is of quite serious nature. Zulfi Bukhari is seeking an apology, retraction of allegations and damages from Reham Khan.