Imran warns of taking his cases to world bodies
Aleema Khan, sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, said Friday that her brother had made it clear that he was left with no other option but to take his plight to international organisations.
Talking to reporters after a meeting with Imran in Adiala Jail, Aleema Khan said that despite his incarceration, the PTI founder remained in full control of the party.
She defended the PTI leader Salman Akram Raja amid sharp criticism from within the party.
Aleema said that PTI founder had been giving clear instructions on how to handle his social media account. She added that Raja had been nominated by Imran and he did exactly what he had been instructed by the party founder.
"Imran Khan has said that we went to the Islamabad High Court [IHC] and the Supreme Court, too, but no one is ready to listen to us. Now we have no option left but to raise our cases at the international level. We will go to all international institutions," she quoted Imran as saying.
Speaking about the pending judgment in the £190 million reference, Aleema Khan questioned how Imran Khan could remain in jail when other cases against him had not held up in the high court. "Imran Khan says he will face his cases in court and will not make any deals for his release," she said.
She also criticised the delay in the announcement of the £190 million case verdict. "Have they forgotten how to write," she said sarcastically. "Imran's only crime was to provide free education to 250 children," she added
She mocked Adviser to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah's statement that Aleema had started taking over the PTI. "At least, he [Rana] and the establishment are on the same page," she quipped. "Since February 8th PTI has not been under anyone's control, but Imran Khan is running it from jail," she said.
"The PTI founder gives instructions how to use his twitter [now X] account. This is a big responsibility, we will fulfil it. He [PTI founder] does not have any position in the party but he is running the party from jail. Everything was decided in Adiala Jail and is still being done," she added.
Aleema said that they had promised to protect the PTI founder and would bring to light everything that had been done to him. She charged that the jail authorities had restricted access to the PTI founder.
Talks with govt
Separately speaking to the media, PTI lawyer Shoaib Shaheen said that Imran believed that negotiations should be held with those who hold real power. He added that when the government did not have the authority, "why are they sitting with it in negotiations?"
Shaheen said that the government claimed that the economy had improved yet more than 10 million people slipped below the poverty line. The PTI founder, he said, stressed that rule of law was essential for improving the economy.
"Does it take a year to form a judicial commission for a full investigation into the November 26 incident?" Shaheen questioned, referring to one of the two demands made by PTI during talks with the government.
The other demand was the release of PTI workers and leaders, including Imran.
When probed further on the government-PTI talks, Shoaib Shaheen said that the spokesperson for "our negotiation committee is Sahibzada Hamid Raza; therefore, Raza speaks about what needs to be said regarding the negotiations".