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  • Imran Khan’s legal professionals say they’re being denied entry to former Pakistan PM

    By Reuters: Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s legal professionals couldn’t attain him on Sunday after he spent the night time in a jail close to the capital following his arrest the day prior to this on a corruption conviction, a spokesperson mentioned.

    Khan was taken by police from his residence within the japanese metropolis of Lahore on Saturday and transferred to the jail simply exterior Islamabad, the place a court docket had convicted him of expenses arising over the sale of state items. The conviction seemingly means the cricket star-turned-politician will probably be disqualified from operating in a nationwide election.

    “Attock prison is a ‘No Go’ area for (his) legal team as well as locals in the vicinity,” mentioned Naeem Haider Panjotha, Khan’s spokesperson for authorized affairs, including they have been unable to take him meals or prepare the signing of authorized paperwork.

    Pakistan’s data minister referred a request for touch upon Khan’s entry to his legal professionals to provincial authorities in Punjab, the place the jail is positioned. Punjab’s prime data official couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.

    It was not clear whether or not Khan would seem in court docket on Monday, after a trial court docket’s shock weekend choice sentencing him to 3 years in jail.

    The arrest was the newest in a collection of blows which have weakened Khan’s political standing, after he fell out with Pakistan’s highly effective navy and his celebration splintered.

    His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) celebration mentioned it had filed appeals in larger courts over the choice.

    The nationwide response was largely quiet, a distinction to widespread violent clashes that plunged the nation into turmoil after Khan’s several-day arrest in May, regardless of calls by his celebration on Saturday for nationwide peaceable protests.

    Thousands of Khan’s aides and supporters have been arrested since May, in response to the inside minister. Many pro-Khan parliamentarians have been additionally arrested and have distanced themselves from Khan, with some resigning from politics.

    His arrest got here days earlier than the federal government was anticipated to dissolve parliament, which might usually result in elections by November. But the federal government selected Saturday to make use of the newest census as a part of election process, probably delaying the vote.

    Britain’s overseas workplace mentioned on Saturday it was carefully monitoring the state of affairs and supported democratic rules. Pakistan’s authorities denies Khan’s arrest was associated to the election.

    Legal specialists say the conviction means Khan would seemingly be disqualified from politics for 5 years.

    His vice chairman, former overseas minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has taken the helm of PTI in his absence.

  • From Benazir Bhutto to Imran Khan, Pakistan’s historical past of jailing former PMs

    By Press Trust of India: With Imran Khan’s sentencing and fast arrest on Saturday in a corruption case, Pakistan has maintained its notoriety for jailing former prime ministers whereas shying away from taking any motion in opposition to navy dictators who repeatedly violated the Constitution.

    Khan, the chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social gathering was arrested from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore after an Islamabad-based classes court docket sentenced him to 3 years in jail on the fees of hiding the proceeds from the sale of state items from the Toshakhana.

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    The Toshakhana is a division beneath the Cabinet Division that shops items given to rulers and authorities officers by heads of different governments and overseas dignitaries. Khan purchased some items together with a treasured watch given to him by the Saudi crown prince and offered the identical for revenue.

    The 70-year-old chief was authorised to purchase the items from Toshakhana and in addition perform the sale however failed to tell the Election Commission of Pakistan in regards to the cash he made for which he was accused of concealment which is against the law beneath the legislation.

    In higher instances, Khan might need escaped with a warning or a effective by the court docket, however he had already run out of luck when he fell out with the highly effective navy institution that led to his ouster from the federal government in April final 12 months.

    Khan shouldn’t be the primary Pakistani premier to finish up in jail, the nation has quite a few unenvious examples of the remedy meted out to elected leaders in its sordid historical past.

    The first on the checklist is Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, a Bengali politician from then East Pakistan who served because the fifth prime minister. He was arrested in January 1962 and put in jail on bogus prices of “anti-state activities”. His precise crime was his refusal to assist navy ruler General Ayub Khan.

    Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who served because the ninth prime minister, was arrested on the fees of conspiracy to homicide a political opponent in 1974. He was sentenced to demise and hanged on April 4, 1979.

    Benazir Bhutto served because the premier twice from 1988 to 1990 and once more from 1993 to 1996. The nation’s solely lady prime minister was arrested a number of instances — first in 1985 and put beneath home arrest for 90 days.

    In August 1986, she was arrested for denouncing the navy dictator Ziaul Haq at a rally in Karachi. In April 1999, she was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for corruption and disqualified and fined greater than 5 million kilos. She prevented arrest as she was in self-exile.

    Nawaz Sharif was arrested in 1999 after General Pervez Musharraf took over and in a while exiled for 10 years.

    In July 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail alongside along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz in a corruption case. In December of the identical 12 months, he was handed over seven years in jail within the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case. He went to London for remedy in 2019 and by no means got here again.

    Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was arrested in July 2019 in reference to a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) corruption case however in a while, bailed out.

    Imran Khan was additionally arrested on May 9, 2023 in one other corruption case however launched after a few days after the intervention by the Supreme Court. He was sentenced to 3 years in jail within the Toshakhana case on August 5, 2023.

    Commenting on his conviction and arrest, well-known journalist and Geo News anchorman Hamid Mir stated that he was not the primary prime minister despatched to jail and is probably not the final one.

    “First Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, then Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, then Benazir Bhutto, then Nawaz Sharif and now Imran Khan. Prime Ministers and politicians are always punished,” he tweeted.

    He additionally stated that no prime minister within the historical past of Pakistan has but served their full five-year time period.

    In stark distinction, not one of the 4 navy dictators – Auyb Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf – confronted justice for toppling elected governments and subverting the Constitution.

    The highly effective Pakistan Army, which has dominated the coup-prone nation for greater than half of its 75 years of existence, has wielded appreciable energy in issues of safety, overseas coverage in addition to politics.

  • Pakistan excessive courtroom suspends non-bailable arrest warrant in opposition to Imran Khan in Toshakhana case

    While passing the order, the courtroom additionally requested police to offer 70-year-old Imran Khan safety to look within the classes courtroom.

    Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is an accused within the Toshakhana case. (File photograph)

    By Press Trust of India: A excessive courtroom in Pakistan on Friday suspended the non-bailable arrest warrant in opposition to former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a corruption case until March 18, giving the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief an opportunity to look in a district courtroom right here.

    The District and Sessions Court in Islamabad issued the arrest warrant in opposition to the ousted premier on February 28 within the Toshakhana case concerning the concealment of the proceeds of the state items and directed the capital metropolis police to deliver Khan to courtroom by March 18.

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, passing the order suspending the non-bailable arrest warrant on Friday, additionally requested police to offer 70-year-old Khan safety to look within the classes courtroom.

    Also Read | Wanted in Pakistan: Former PM Imran Khan. Here’s why

    The improvement comes a day after Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Zafar Iqbal dismissed a plea by Khan to droop his non-bailable arrest warrant within the state depository case.

    Khan has been within the crosshairs for getting items, together with an costly Graff wristwatch he had obtained because the premier at a reduced value from the state depository referred to as Toshakhana and promoting them for revenue.

    Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a division below the executive management of the Cabinet Division and shops treasured items given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officers by heads of different governments and states and overseas dignitaries.

    Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in October final 12 months for not sharing particulars of the gross sales. The election physique later filed a grievance with the district courtroom to punish him, below legal legal guidelines, for promoting the items he had obtained as prime minister of the nation.

    On Thursday, Judge Iqbal dismissed Khan’s plea to droop a non-bailable arrest warrant in opposition to him and mentioned that he would halt makes an attempt by the Islamabad police to arrest him if the ousted premier surrendered earlier than the courtroom.

    He ordered the police to arrest Khan and current him on March 18 as per legislation.

    “Law is the same for everyone,” the choose wrote in his judgment after three back-to-back hearings.

    While listening to the case, the choose remarked that Khan ought to give up unconditionally earlier than searching for any favour from the courtroom.

    Khan has skipped a number of hearings within the case.

    The PTI chief has been resisting arrest within the Toshakhana case, holed up inside his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, surrounded by a whole lot of his supporters, who’ve fought pitched battles with the police and Rangers over the previous few days, leading to accidents to greater than 60 individuals, principally policemen.

    Also Read | Caught at slip however not out: How former Pakistan PM Imran Khan evaded arrest once more

    The clashes in the end subsided after the courts intervened on Wednesday, a day after which Khan’s supporters positioned transport containers outdoors the principle entrance of his residence and outfitted themselves with golf equipment and slings to guard the previous premier from any additional police motion.

    As police laid siege to his Lahore residence, Khan had as soon as once more rushed to the IHC with a petition in opposition to the arrest orders.

    The IHC refused to intervene and requested the lawyer to go to the district courtroom and provides a dedication that Khan would seem on March 18 when the courtroom had scheduled a listening to of the case.

    Khan appeared earlier than Lahore High Court on Friday and guaranteed that he was able to current himself on Saturday earlier than the choose dealing with a corruption case in opposition to him, PTI chief Fawad Chaudhry instructed media individuals on Friday, including that “an undertaking has also been given to the court”.

    Separately, Khan was set to look within the Lahore High Court (LHC) for a protecting bail to let him journey to Islamabad. Earlier, the Lahore High Court stopped the police from any motion until 3 pm to arrest Khan.

    According to Khan, he was going through over 80 totally different instances in numerous courts throughout Pakistan.

    Khan was ousted from energy in April final 12 months after dropping a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was a part of a US-led conspiracy focusing on him due to his unbiased overseas coverage choices on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

    Since his ouster, Khan has been asking for early elections to oust what he termed an “imported government” led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.

    Sharif has maintained that elections might be held later this 12 months as soon as the parliament completes its five-year tenure.

    Posted By:

    Rishabh Sharma

    Published On:

    Mar 17, 2023

  • Pakistan media regulator bans Imran Khan’s speeches. How he evaded arrest in Toshakhana case

    Imran Khan has been within the crosshairs for purchasing items, together with an costly Graff wristwatch, he had acquired because the premier at a reduced worth from the state depository ‘Toshakhana’ and promoting them for revenue. The courtroom has requested him to look earlier than it on March 7 within the case.

    FILE PHOTO: Former Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses a information convention (Reuters)

    By India Today World Desk: Pakistan’s digital media watchdog on Sunday banned satellite tv for pc tv channels from broadcasting dwell and recorded speeches of ousted prime minister Imran Khan with instant impact, hours after he dodged arrest and made ‘provocative statements towards state establishments’.

    Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, addressed his celebration employees exterior his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, saying he has by no means “bowed before any man or institution.”

    He additionally lashed out at authorities leaders, alleging they stashed their wealth abroad and got safety in authorized instances by former Pakistan Army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    The developments got here after Islamabad Police on Sunday arrived at Khan’s Lahore residence to arrest him within the Toshakhana case, however returned after assurance from his authorized group that he would seem earlier than the courtroom on March 7.

    IMRAN KHAN’s SPEECHES BANNED – WHAT PEMRA SAID

    Referring to earlier directives whereby all licencees have been directed to ‘chorus from telecasting any content material towards state establishments’, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) mentioned Khan, in his speech, was “levelling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers which is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquillity.”

    It mentioned the airing of hateful, slanderous, and unwarranted statements towards state establishments is “in sheer violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and the judgment of the Supreme Court”.

    Lahore: Imran Khan’s supporters exterior his residence after police reached there to arrest him in Toshakhana case (Photo: PTI)

    It was noticed that such content material was telecasted by TV channels with out efficient utilisation of a time-delay mechanism in violation of provisions of PEMRA legal guidelines in addition to judgments of the apex courts, the regulator added.

    PEMRA additionally warned TV channels that their license could be suspended in case of non-compliance.

    IMRAN KHAN WRITES TO PAKISTAN CJI

    Meanwhile, in a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the previous prime minister highlighted the safety dangers he faces within the mild of credible threats of a second assassination try.

    Imran Khan has complained of not being offered enough safety regardless of being the nation’s former PM.

    He alleged that the present prime minister and the inside minister have been concerned within the failed assassination try towards him.

    He mentioned that there have been clear indications of one other assassination try towards him.

    Imran Khan’s letter to CJIHOW IMRAN KHAN DODGED ARREST BY ISLAMABAD POLICE

    Sunday noticed large protests at Khan’s residence after a group of Islamabad police reached his Lahore residence to arrest him within the Toshakhana case. The officers, nonetheless, returned after his authorized group assured them that he would seem earlier than the courtroom on March 7.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice-Chairman and Former Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi mentioned there was no point out of “arrest” within the warrants as an Islamabad periods courtroom had requested him to look earlier than it on March 7 within the Toshakhana case.

    The courtroom issued a non-bailable arrest warrant towards Khan final week and adjourned the listening to until March 7 due to his repeated failure to look earlier than the courtroom.

    WHAT HAPPENED OUTSIDE KHAN’S RESIDENCE

    The Lahore police on Sunday first positioned containers and closed the primary street resulting in the Zaman Park residence of Khan.

    Riot police and water cannons have been current close to Khan’s residence. Though his celebration employees feared that the police might raid Khan’s home anytime, they mentioned they might not foil any such try.

    Lahore: Imran Khan’s supporters exterior his residence after police reached there to arrest him in Toshakhana case (Photo: PTI)

    Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar mentioned in a press release that Punjab police would cooperate with Islamabad police to implement the courtroom’s order concerning Khan’s case. He, nonetheless, didn’t say that police have been going to arrest Khan.

    Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, a minister mentioned the Islamabad police went to Khan’s residence to ship a discover to him to look earlier than a courtroom within the Toshakhana case on March 7, when he will probably be indicted within the case.

    A lot of PTI employees reached Zaman Park following the information of his doable arrest.

    “Arrest of Imran Khan is our red line and we will not allow this,” PTI senior chief Shafqat Mahmood mentioned.

    TV footage confirmed police officers in Islamabad Police uniforms in addition to Punjab Police being held again by Khan’s supporters exterior his residence.

    In a collection of tweets, the Islamabad Police earlier mentioned an operation to arrest Khan was being carried out with the cooperation of the Lahore police.

    Meanwhile, senior PTI chief Fawad Chaudhry informed reporters that Khan is submitting a protecting bail petition within the Lahore High Court within the assault on Islamabad judicial advanced.

    WHY IS IMRAN KHAN UNDER FIRE

    Khan, 70, has been within the crosshairs for purchasing items, together with an costly Graff wristwatch he had acquired because the premier at a reduced worth from the state depository known as Toshakhana and promoting them for revenue.

    The Islamabad Sessions courtroom issued a non-bailable arrest warrant towards Khan final week and adjourned the listening to until March 7 due to his repeated failure to look earlier than the courtroom.

    This is just not the primary time that PEMRA has banned TV channels from broadcasting Khan’s speeches.

    In August final yr, the previous cricketer-turned-politician, whereas addressing a public gathering, threatened to file instances towards high police officers, a girl Justice of the Peace, and the Election Commission of Pakistan over the remedy meted out to his aide Shehbaz Gill, who was then arrested on costs of sedition.

    Khan was ousted from energy in April after dropping a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was a part of a US-led conspiracy focusing on him due to his impartial international coverage choices on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.

    Since his ouster, Khan has been clamouring for instant elections to oust what he termed an “imported government” led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

    Sharif has maintained that elections will probably be held later this yr as soon as the parliament completes its five-year tenure.

    Published On:

    Mar 6, 2023