Saif-ur-Rehman Khan

Muhammad Saif-ur-Rehman Khan is a Pakistani citizen who was wrongly detained in Chile on charges of terrorism, and later acquitted.

Background Muhammad Saif-ur-Rehman Khan was born in 1982, in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he spent most of his early life. After completing his A-levels from the University College of Islamabad (UCI), he went on to complete a bachelor's degree from the University of Punjab in Lahore.

On May 11, 2010, a U.S. official confirmed that Saif's name was on a terror watch list.

All suspicions were put to rest by the court in Santiago Chile that acquitted him and prosecutors dropped all charges against him. All along, Saif ur Rehman and his family claimed that the entire fiasco may have been a result of a "misunderstanding" stemming from mistaken identity.

Biography On May 7, 2010, Saif was approached by three Americans while attending services at a mosque. Earlier that day, he had received a call from the U.S. Embassy in Santiago requesting that he come to the embassy for an identity check

Release Upon his release, Muhammad Saif-ur-Rehman Khan gave a press conference where he pleaded his innocence. The investigations continued and prosecutors repeatedly requested more time from the courts. Meanwhile, the parents of the Pakistani student traveled to Santiago to accompany their son and aid in his legal defense.

Outcome The investigation continued for more than 7 months. The U.S. Embassy in Santiago invoked diplomatic immunity and refused to allow the embassy staff who handled his belongings to be questioned by the Chilean courts. The Pakistani student appeared in various television and news programs and affirmed his trust in the Chilean judiciary. Proceedings in late 2010 found that Khan was not guilty. Subsequently, the prosecutors dropped the charges against him amidst much media coverage. A coalition of friends and family of Saif ur Rehman launched an effective media campaign to dispel the misinformation that appeared in media especially in May 2010. His trial substantially brought Chile–Pakistan relations to the limelight. In his last TV interviews, he asked the government and the people behind this ordeal for an apology and got immense support from the human rights commission in the congress of Chile.