Fresh crackdown launched against Imran Khan’s party leaders in Pakistan

Lahore, Feb 16: A fresh round of crackdown has been launched allegedly by the Pakistan Army against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party in a bid to put pressure on the winners in the elections to change their loyalties to parties backed by the powerful military. The confrontation between Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the military establishment comes after the party won the lion’s share in the general elections in Pakistan on February 8.
Police arrested successful independent candidates backed by the PTI, and conducted raids on their properties across Punjab province, party sources said. Arrest warrants have been issued for the PTI-nominated candidates for the slot of chief minister in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Besides, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has summoned Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan for inciting the public against the state. PTI’s Prime Minister candidate Omar Ayub on Friday secured a pre-arrest bail from a local court to anticipate his possible arrest in any unknown case to stop him from going to Parliament to compete against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led six-party alliance candidate Shehbaz Sharif for the coveted slot of prime minister. Omar said that PTI-backed MNA (Member of the National Assembly) from Sialkot, Aslam Ghumman had been abducted by unknown people, referring towards intelligence agencies.
Imran challenges cipher, Toshakhana sentences
Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has challenged in the Islamabad High Court his sentences in the cipher and Toshakhana corruption cases. Separate petitions have been filed before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) through Barrister Ali Zafar against Khan’s sentences in the Toshakhana and cipher cases. The petition on the cipher (secret diplomatic cable) case made the state and Interior Ministry Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar respondents in the case. It urged the high court to set aside the conviction and sentence and acquit him of the charges. On January 30, Khan, 71, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a special court for leaking sensitive state secrets. (PTI)
The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Khan – less than a month before his ouster in April 2022 – while addressing a public rally, waved a letter before the crowd, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to have his government overthrown.
(PTI)