'PTI leadership faces jail if foreign funding verdict implemented': Akbar S Babar

Estranged founding member highlights alleged fraud in PTI’s intra-party elections held on March 3

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) estranged founding member Akbar S. Babar highlights alleged fraud in PTI’s intra-party elections held on March 3, and claimed that if the decision in the foreign funding case is enforced, PTI’s top leadership will face imprisonment due to large-scale irregularities.

He reiterated that he had filed the foreign funding case a decade ago.

"I was the first to expose the fraud and corruption within this so-called tsunami," Babar added.

He noted that while a verdict had been reached in the foreign funding case, its implementation had not been carried out.

He states that calls for protests and marches are being made on a daily basis and criticized the justice system, urging it to play a more active role in maintaining the rule of law.

Babar referred to the swift convictions handed down in the UK for those involved in unrest, contrasting it with the justice system in Pakistan, which he believes is failing to uphold accountability.

"Every day, there is a new call for chaos and protests," he said.

Furthermore, he accused PTI of engaging in unlawful practices and warned of consequences for the party’s leaders.

The PTI founder also criticised the party for waving the American flag during rallies, calling it a symbol of subjugation.

"Those who waved the American flag at PTI rallies should be ashamed," he remarked, asserting that PTI had never condemned the genocide in Palestine and Lebanon.

Babar concluded by alleging that PTI has been hijacked by extremists, who have endangered the basic rights of the people through protests and sit-ins.

In March 2024, Babar demanded an investigation into the party's 'secret' foreign bank accounts.

Babar, in a letter to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, wrote that no action was taken even after the verdict on the PTI foreign funding case which was announced 20 months back.

He added that legal action against PTI's foreign bank accounts was still awaited alleging that "the accounts may be used for anti-state activities".

“Despite PTI’s illegal foreign funding being proved, no action to protect the national security of Pakistan was worrisome,” said Babar in the letter.

He also asserted that all provisions of the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) August 2022 order must be implemented. Terming the secret foreign bank accounts a 'crime', the estranged PTI leader demanded accountability.

In a long-awaited verdict on PTI's prohibited funding, the ECP in August 2022 ruled that the party of former prime minister Imran Khan did indeed receive illegal funding.

Previously, Islamabad Judicial Magistrate has accepted the acquittal pleas of PTI founder Imran Khan, former Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid, and other co-accused in a case registered under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), along with violations of the Amplifier Act and other related provisions.