Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday (August 27, 2024) reiterated that the Army and the ISI are responsible for his condition and expressed fear for his life.

Khan, 71, lodged at the Adiala Jail since last year, also blamed the current dispensation for being averse to criticism, for the deteriorating law-and-order situation across the country, and also for ruining Pakistan’s cricket that is facing repeated defeats.

In a post on X from jail, Khan repeated claims about rigged elections and said only a government with a genuine mandate will be able to plan for fundamental reforms.

“The ISI controls all administrative matters related to my imprisonment. I’m saying it again: if anything happens to me, the Army Chief and DG ISI will be responsible,” the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said in a detailed post on X.

Khan’s comments come two days after the Pakistan government said that the former prime minister’s trial in cases concerning the violence on May 9 last year might go to the military courts.

“The events and vandalism on May 9 last year invited the application of the Army Act since military installations were attacked and damaged,” Government spokesperson for legal affairs Barrister Aqeel Malik had said.

On May 9 last year, violent protests erupted after Khan’s arrest by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in connection with an alleged corruption case.

His party workers allegedly vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander House), the Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. A mob also attacked the Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.

Khan’s longish post on X started with “reminding” the nation of the two attempts on his life: first in Wazirabad, Punjab province and then again at the Judicial Complex in Islamabad.

The ISI stole the CCTV footage from Wazirabad, and the night before the attack in Islamabad, the ISI had taken control of the area where it happened, he claimed.

“In their panic, they have made my conditions in jail even tougher. The staff assigned to ensure that my food isn’t poisoned has been changed for the fourth time,” he wrote.

He also described the conditions of his and his wife Bushra’s cell – ‘rats fall from the top when she prays – and said the court has been informed about it.

Khan further said that he had already explained why the Islamabad rally was postponed and how it had nothing to do with “contacts with the establishment.” “This entire government runs on lies; I don’t even read the news about them. I have no contact with the establishment. If we do hold talks with them, it will only be for the sake of the country and the constitution,” the PTI supremo added.

Drawing a parallel to the situation that unfolded in Bangladesh, he also came up with a curt comment: “Cattle can be herded in a desired direction, not humans” and said, “The Army Chief, Chief Justice, and Police Chief were all loyal to the Prime Minister (in Bangladesh), but when the people took to the streets, they won their rights.” “Anyone critical of the regime is labelled a digital terrorist. When internet services were shut down, people protested, but those in power couldn’t handle the criticism. No one is permitted to even voice their problems. The nation blames a specific institution for this,” he added.

“What are his qualifications? Under him, the law-and-order situation across the country is deteriorating,” the PTI leader asked and described terror attack incidents in KP and Balochistan.

The former cricketer-turned-politician rued about “the embarrassing defeat against Bangladesh” on Monday (August 26, 2024) and said it set a new low. He also lamented the current condition of cricket in Pakistan, saying: “The blame for all of this collapse falls on one institution.”

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has refused to undergo polygraph and voice matching tests as part of an investigation by Lahore police in connection with a dozen cases related to the unprecedented May 9 riots last year.

A 12-member forensic team reached Adiala Jail on July 23 to conduct the polygraph test on the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician.

The May 9 riots in 2023 were triggered across the country after the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a 190-million-pound corruption case. He faces over 200 cases and has been in jail since August last year.

The Lahore police team, led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, arrived at the prison premises to conduct the tests, the Express Tribune reported.

They were accompanied by experts from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), the report said.

The PFSA experts were to perform polygraph, voice matching, and photogrammetry tests on the former prime minister.

The PTI founder answered the questions of the police for 15 minutes. However, Khan refused to undergo the polygraph test and other tests planned by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s team, the Nation newspaper reported.

Khan said he was under investigation by many institutions and he would give time to the police after the completion of his earlier inquiries, it said.

The police officials also questioned him about various aspects of the May 9 riots that targeted the Lahore corps commander’s residence, military installations and public properties, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Following their visit, the police team and PFSA experts briefed Lahore DIG Investigation Zeeshan Asghar on Khan’s lack of cooperation. The matter will be discussed in a meeting of senior police officers to devise a strategy for a follow-up visit in consultation with the prosecution department, the report said.

During the May 9 protests, alleged PTI workers and supporters attacked and vandalised military installations including the General Headquarters as well as monuments.

After the unprecedented violence, authorities swung into action and initiated a massive crackdown against the PTI while also holding trials of over 100 PTI workers in military courts.

Civil and military authorities have been accusing Khan of planning the May 9 conspiracy ahead of his arrest, a claim vehemently rejected by him and his party.

Khan denied giving orders for vandalising state properties but did acknowledge that he had asked his party to stage a peaceful protest outside the GHQ in case of his arrest.

Khan has been imprisoned at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for almost a year upon his conviction in three cases — the Toshakhana corruption case, the cypher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case— in which his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also jailed.

Though the former-cricketer-turned-politician had secured bail or his conviction was set aside, he has not been released.

Khan was arrested on August 5 last year after his conviction in the first Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Since then, he has been kept in jail in various cases.

File photo of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan.
| Photo Credit: PTI

An accountability court in Pakistan on May 15 adjourned the hearing of the £190 million corruption case against Imran Khan till May 17, citing “security concerns” at the high-security Adiala prison where the former Prime Minister is currently imprisoned, media reports said.

The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder has been lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since August last year.

The Islamabad accountability court accepted the request of the Adiala Jail’s superintendent to adjourn the hearing of the case against Mr. Khan due to ‘security concerns’, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The Court adjourned the hearing till May 17, it said.

In his request, the jail official cited reports received by the Punjab Home Department of the threat alerts on prisons in Punjab by banned organisations.

Asserting that the Adiala jail is the most sensitive prison in the province and houses more than 7,000 prisoners, the official said that criminals involved in serious crimes, including high-profile political entities, are also incarcerated there.

Security threats were also received for the Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rawalpindi (Adiala) and Attock jails, said the request.

Following the reports, security was increased in and around the prison, and a mock exercise was also conducted by security forces there.

Surrounding areas were also being combed by security personnel, the paper said.

Also Read: Imran Khan | The cornered captain

On May 14, the Punjab Home Department imposed a ban on meeting of relatives and others with all prisoners in the Adiala Jail for three days owing to security concerns, the Dawn newspaper reported.

A ban on providing any items to prisoners was also imposed.

In March, the Punjab government banned Mr. Khan from holding any meetings, including with his family members, lawyers and party leaders for two weeks at the Adiala Jail.

The Al-Qadir Trust case is about the settlement of 190 million pounds, about ₹50 billion, which the U.K.’s National Crime Agency sent to Pakistan after recovering the amount from a Pakistani property tycoon.

Being the Prime Minister then, Mr. Khan, instead of depositing in the national treasury, allowed the businessman to use the amount to partly settle a fine of about ₹450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court some years ago.

Reportedly, the tycoon, in return, gifted about 57 acres of land to a trust set up by Mr. Khan and Bushra Bibi to establish the Al-Qadir University in the Sohawa area of the Jhelum district of Punjab.

In December 2023, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiated an investigation against the former cricketer-turned-politician, his wife and others in the case of alleged acquisition of hundreds of canals of land under the name of Al Qadir University Trust, resulting in a reported loss of 190 million pounds to the exchequer.

Since his removal from power in a no-confidence motion in April 2022, Mr. Khan has been convicted in at least four cases, including the cipher (secret diplomatic communication) case.

Islamabad:

The lawyer of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan alleged on Saturday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is being “mentally tortured” in the Adiala Jail, ARY News reported.

PTI chief lawyer Naeem Hairder Panjotha alleged that Khan is kept in a small room of C-class jail and is not allowed to come out of that room even for a walk.

Imran Khan’s counsel said that he doubts the quality of food being given to the former PM. Notably, the plea regarding food is still pending in the court.

Panjotha further questioned the in-camera hearing of cipher case and urged to proceed with the open trial of the case. He said the conviction of PTI chairman in cipher is a part of “campaign to keep the former PM out of politics”, ARY News reported.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rejected the challan submitted by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the cipher case.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the PTI spokesperson said that the challan submitted against party chairman and vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi was “meaningless and bogus as cipher case”.

In its challan, the FIA stated that Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were found guilty in the matter. The agency requested the court to conduct their trial and sentence them in the case.

Former PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar’s name has not been included in the list of accused, Geo News reported citing sources. Imran Khan’s former principal secretary Azam Khan has been named as a “strong witness” in the case, the report said.

Geo News reported citing sources, the names of former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed, Sohail Mehmood and the then additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi have also been included in the list of witnesses.

On September 26, the special court extended the judicial remand of Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi till October 10 in the cipher case. Earlier in August, the FIA booked the PTI chairman and vice chairman under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly misplacing and misusing the classified document for their vested political interests.

Subsequently, Khan and Qureshi were arrested in connection with the probe into the case and a special court was formed under the Official Secrets Act to try the accused, Geo News reported.

The ciphergate controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan just days before his ouster in April 2022 brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be removed from power, according to The News International report.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter nor mention the name of the nation that had sent it. But a few days later, he named the United States and said that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal, The News International reported.

Imran Khan claimed that he was reading contents from the cipher, said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power”.

The cipher case against Pakistan’s former PM became serious after his principal secretary Azam Khan in a statement before a magistrate and the FIA said that the former PM had used the US cipher for his “political gains” and to avert a vote of no-confidence against him, The News International reported.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)