Imran Khan booked under terrorism charges

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and deposed prime minister Imran Khan was booked in a terrorism case on the complaint of Islamabad Saddar Magistrate Ali Javed for threatening the additional sessions judge of the federal capital, Zeba Chaudhry.

The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, was lodged with the Margalla police station at 10 pm, Saturday, following a speech of Imran Khan at the PTI rally in F9 Park. The FIR also carries Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The FIR was lodged hours before another Islamabad police station received a written complaint from a resident of G-11/2 for lodging a case against Imran over making hate-speeches, and inciting rebellion against the army, police and judiciary.

The FIR lodged by the Margalla police said that the PTI chief threatened the additional sessions judge of Islamabad with a view to terrorise the high officials of the police and the judiciary, so that they could not fulfil their duties and refrain from taking action against the PTI due to fear of Imran.

Read more: ‘Why I was ousted’, Imran Khan asks 'neutrals' at Pindi rally

The FIR was registered less than an hour after the PTI chief addressed party workers and supporters at a rally in Islamabad’s F-9 park to express solidarity with Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested on sedition charges on August 9.

A day earlier, Imran had shocked the nation when he alleged that Gill was sexually abused during detention. At the rally, he said that his party would approach the Supreme Court in connection with the alleged torture on his aide.

Imran alleged that Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry knew that Gill was tortured, but she did not release him on bail. He threatened that he would take legal action against the judge and the Inspector general of Islamabad police.

Several sentences from Imran’s speech had been made part of the FIR. It said that Imran Khan’s speech in this design and style was aimed at spawning fear and panic among the police authorities, the judiciary and the public.

It added that Imran’s threat of “filing a case against you” had spread fear among the police authorities, the judiciary and the public and destroyed the peace in the country. The complainant requested the police to take legal action against the accused.

Also read: Imran accused of ‘inciting people’ against state institutions

Separately, an application for registering a case against Imran Khan was filed with the Ramna police on Sunday. In his complaint, Advocate Ziaur Rahman accused the PTI chief of inciting the people to revolt against state institutions and using hate speech against the army, judiciary and police officers.

Rahman stated that on Saturday Imran announced that the PTI would file a case against Islamabad IG Dr Akbar Nasir Khan, the deputy inspector general (DIG) and Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry. He said that the threat of filing case against the magistrate was tantamount to an “act of terrorism”.

He further complained that Imran was trying to prevent an honourable judge from performing her duties, adding that the PTI chief's speech at the party rally in F-9 Park on Saturday hurt the dignity and sentiments of both the judiciary and the bar. He requested the police to arrest Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi.

The Station House Officer (SHO) of the Ramna police station, Shahid Zaman, told The Express Tribune that no case had yet been registered on the application because the incident occurred in F-9 Park, which lay in the jurisdiction of Margalla Police Station.

On the other hand, a senior police officer, when contacted by The Express Tribune, said that apart from the crime scene and depending upon the nature of the allegations, a case could be registered in the police station in the residential area of the complainant.

Other police sources said that in the sedition case registered against Gill carried Section 134 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which meant that the accused has committed the crime of inciting public rebellion against state institutions in consultation with several people. They added that Imran could become an accused in the case if solid evidence was found.

Legal action

Also on Sunday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah took to the microblogging website of Twitter, saying that the PTI chief would have to face legal consequences for “threatening” police officers and the magistrate during his speech at the Islamabad rally the other night.

“Imran Niazi will have to face the law for threatening and hurling abuses at the Magistrate and Police officers. Such acts of brazen thuggery are responsible for instigating extremism in society,” he said. “You [Imran Khan] are not allowed to challenge the writ of the state by inciting rebellion,” he added.

Separately, the Islamabad police responded on Sunday to warnings issued by the PTI chairman against the capital police a day ago, saying in a statement on Twitter that “anyone threatening the police or making false accusations will be dealt with according to the law”.

The capital police said in their tweet that they would continue to perform their duties diligently. They added that the police had taken an oath to serve the nation at all times. “All officers are rendering their services with complete responsibility and continue to discharge them,” they said.

“The police is an organised institution and we are bound to perform our duties. The police could not indulge in any mismanagement.” The Islamabad police reiterated that it would take lawful action against “all false allegations.”