Islamabad:

Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has said that he is ready to hold talks but not to strike a “deal” with anyone who has stolen his party’s mandate in the February 8 general election.

Talking to journalists at the high-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Friday, the 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf founder asserted that negotiations were held only with adversaries and therefore the talks should be held with those who were the biggest opponents of PTI at present, apparently a reference to the military establishment, the Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.

Underlining that he had been saying for 18 months that he was ready to hold negotiations but not to strike a deal, Khan reiterated that his party would hold talks with everyone but the three parties, the Geo News reported.

“Someone who wants to leave the country or avoid imprisonment makes a deal,” he said, in an apparent reference to PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif.

Khan named Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub and Leader of the Opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz for holding negotiations.

“I have proposed these three names for talks and not for a deal,” he said.

The February 8 general elections delivered a fractured mandate. Independent candidates, a majority of them backed by Khan’s PTI, won 93 seats in the 336-member National Assembly. Former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 75 seats while the Bilawal Zardari Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) won 17 seats.

Khan’s PTI party has maintained that the powerful establishment had favoured Sharif’s PML-N and that the Election Commission of Pakistan deliberately used a different form to declare the results to “steal the mandate” that belonged to it.

The PML-N struck a post-poll deal with Bhutto’s PPP and four smaller parties and formed the government in March.

Khan reiterated that he was “always ready for talks, but it could only take place when their stolen mandate was returned and innocent imprisoned workers were released,” the Dawn newspaper quoted PTI’s media department as saying on Friday.

Without naming anyone, Khan told reporters that “they” were going to lodge the fourth case against him concerning the Toshakhana gifts. They should make whatever the cases they wanted all at once, he added.

Khan’s statement came a day after PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan claimed that his party was neither holding dialogues with anyone nor had any special message for talks.

Gohar, speaking to journalists outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, said that the former premier was facing “politically motivated” cases. He added that the PTI founder requested the judiciary to give judgements on his cases at the earliest, the Geo News reported.

“Ali Amin Gandapur, Omar Ayub Khan and Shibli Faraz have been given the go-ahead to hold talks, but not to strike a deal,” Gohar said, adding that they were to talk to anyone except three political parties.

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

Islamabad:

Incarcerated former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in a message from jail, has alleged that “another attempt” could be made on his life through “slow poisoning” and urged the people to fight for “their rights and country’s freedom”.

The message of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman was posted on his X handle through his family.

Imran Khan also slammed the caretaker government over the return of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and the series of reliefs granted to him by the courts in different graft cases.

‘

My Pakistanis!

In the last few days, we have witnessed a total mockery of the law. All that is happening today is not just an execution of a London “plan” but…

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 27, 2023

“In the last few days, we have witnessed a total mockery of the law. All that is happening today is not just an execution of a London “plan” but London “agreement” that was signed between a cowardly fugitive and corrupt criminal and his facilitators. The only way a convicted criminal could be allowed to return to politics with a clean chit is by destroying State institutions. And hence, what we are witnessing is a complete collapse of our justice system,” Khan stated.

He further said that all the cases against him are “completely bogus and politically motivated” and concocted only to keep him in jail till after the elections or much longer.

The former PM said the “growing political awareness” and “increasing resistance against closed-room conspiracies” in Pakistan scare the establishment.

Stating that two attempts have already been made against his life, Khan alleged that another attempt could be made through “slow poisoning” as he has refused to leave the country.

“At the moment I am physically fit. I would know if my body was experiencing change from weakness. But they have already made two public attempts to take my life. Since I won’t agree to leave my country there is of course a danger they will try to make another attempt on my life while I am in jail. Such an attempt could also be through slow poisoning,” Khan said.

He added, “Our struggle is entering its decisive phase. You will have to fight for your own rights and your country’s freedom”.

Khan added that he has directed his lawyers and party office bearers to hold conventions all across the country and commence the campaign whenever elections are held.

Pakistan district and sessions court on August 5, sentenced Imran Khan to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case i.e. for illegally selling state gifts and disqualified him from politics for a period of five years, local media reported.

The court also imposed a fine of Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 100,000 on Imran Khan, Geo News reported. However, the Islamabad HC later suspended Imran Khan’s three-year sentence in the Toshakhana case.

But, a special court in Islamabad ordered Attock Jail authorities — where the former premier was incarcerated — to keep the PTI chairman in judicial lockup in the cypher case. Imran Khan is presently imprisoned at Adiala Jail.

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

However, a few days later Imran Khan named the United States and said that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal. The PTI chairman had claimed that he was reading contents from the cypher and said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power”.

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

Islamabad:

 A special court in Pakistan on Wednesday granted permission to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to have a phone conversation with his two sons, according to a media report.

In a one-page written order, special court judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, directed the superintendent of Adiala Jail, where Khan is currently lodged, to ensure that Khan speaks to his sons, Sulaiman Khan and Qasim Khan, over the phone, Geo News reported.

The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman, who has been at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in the cipher case, was arrested in August after a case was filed against him for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country’s embassy in Washington in March last year.

The court last week declared that Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be indicted during the next hearing on October 17, which would mark the official start of the trial. However, on Tuesday, the Special Court had adjourned till October 23 the indictment of Khan and his close aide Qureshi.

The deposed prime minister had submitted a plea to the special court on September 11, seeking contempt of court against Attock jail superintendent who refused to allow him to speak with his sons, despite court orders issued previously in this regard, GeoTV said.

“(Khan) was earlier granted permission by the special court, formed to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act, to speak to his sons. However, the PTI chief in the petition sought contempt of court proceedings against the Attock jail superintendent for violating the court’s order,” the media report said.

Ousted through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022, Khan was incarcerated on August 5 this year, after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief was lodged in the Attock District Jail to serve his prison term. Later, his sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court, but then, he was arrested in the cipher case and remained in the Attock jail on judicial remand.

Giving the chronology of events, Geo News described how, at the time of filing the plea, Khan was in judicial custody at the Attock jail. He was there till September 13 in the cipher case since his arrest on August 5 after a trial convicted him in the Toshakhana case.

“Khan was earlier granted permission by the special court, formed to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act, to speak to his sons. However, the PTI chief in the petition sought contempt of court proceedings against the Attock jail superintendent for violating the court’s order,” the report said.

The Attock jail authorities, in their reply to the contempt of court petition, argued that jail rules do not allow the accused facing charges under the Official Secrets Act to speak over the phone citing the Prisoners Act, 1978.

The SOPs regarding telephone conversations were presented to the court. Khan’s lawyer quoted the Federal Shariat Court’s decision in this regard and submitted a copy of the Federal Shariat Court’s relevant verdict before the judge.

The judge then went on to authorise permission for the PTI chairman to speak to his sons over a phone call, Geo News added. 

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

Islamabad:

A lawyer of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday expressed fear about the safety of the ex-premier and said that he maybe slow-poisoned to death in jail.

Naeem Panjutha, who is also Khan’s spokesman on legal affairs, said that Khan was being mentally tortured and his movement has been restricted.

“Imran Khan can be slow food poisoned. He is being mentally tortured and his movement has been restricted,” he claimed.

Panjutha said that Khan, 70, was on Monday night transferred to a lower class cell at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where he was shifted on September 26 from the Attock jail following court orders.

“Security personnel have been stationed outside the cell,” he said.

He also claimed that new ways were being used in an effort to break Khan.

Panjutha said that he filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court about Khan’s conditions in jail which was fixed for hearing on October 5.

He said that Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi also met him today.

Khan was arrested on August 5 after conviction in the Toshakhana case. He was implicated in scores of cases after his ouster from office in April last year.

On Monday, IHC restored the bail of Khan in nine different cases by annulling the different trial courts’ decisions to cancel the same.

Khan, who served as the country’s prime minister until April last year, currently faces around 180 cases. These cases primarily stem from incidents that occurred following the sacking of the Lahore corps commander’s house on May 9.

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

Islamabad:

Pakistani authorities were preparing on Monday to move former Prime Minister Imran Khan to a prison with better facilities near the national capital Islamabad after a court order, his party said on Monday.

His legal team and party had been pleading with several courts to issue orders for Khan to be shifted to Adyala Jail in garrison city of Rawalpindi, which they argued was more appropriate for a former premier.

“Arrangements are taking place,” Khan’s close aide Zulfikar Bukhari said in a message to journalists, referring to preparations to move the former premier after Khan’s lawyer, Naeem Panjutha, said a high court in the capital had ordered the move.

Panjutha later wrote on social media platform X that Khan had been moved to the new prison but then deleted that post.

Khan has been detained in a low-key, colonial era prison in the northwestern Attock district that lacked facilities like attached bathroom and television and made it harder for family and friends to visit or send newspapers, books or food.

The former prime minister has been in jail since early August after being convicted on corruption charges.

A court suspended his three year prison term, but his release on bail did not happen as authorities charged him in another case related to leaking state secrets.

Khan says the charges are designed to stop him running in an election early next year, an allegation the authorities deny.

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

Islamabad:

Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday filed a petition in a special court seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Attock jail superintendent for allegedly denying him permission to speak to his sons over the phone, according to a media report.

Imran Khan, 70, is in judicial custody till September 13 in the cipher case for allegedly disclosing state secrets. He has been incarcerated in the Attock prison since his arrest on August 5 after a trial convicted him in the Toshakhana corruption case.

Last month, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief was granted permission by the special court, formed to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act, to speak to his sons – Qasim and Sulaiman.

However, Khan in the petition sought contempt of court proceedings against the Attock jail superintendent for violating the court’s order, Geo News reported.

In the petition, Khan claimed that jail officials denied him permission to have telephonic conversations with his sons on the pretext that he was held under the Secrets Act.

Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain issued notice to Superintendent Attock Jail Arif Shehzad and sought a report on the implementation of the court’s order on September 15.

The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year.

Of late, Khan has come under increased scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many in the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers at the PTI chief for being the source of the leak.

A division bench comprising Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri on Wednesday suspended Khan’s three-year sentence in Toshakhana corruption and ordered his release from the jail in Punjab province. But he remained in jail after a special court last month extended till September 13 the judicial remand of Imran Khan in the cipher case.

Earlier, Khan, through his lawyers had filed a petition before Judge Zulqarnain seeking permission to talk to his sons Qasim and Sulaiman – living in London with their mother – on the telephone.

The judge had directed the Attock Jail officials to make arrangements for the father to speak to the sons over the phone.

Geo News mentioned how the government of Imran Khan in 2018 did not allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to speak to his ailing wife who was then battling cancer in a London hospital. Begum Kulsoom Nawaz passed away in September 2018 in the UK capital.

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