Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan addressed his party’s workers and supporters for the first time following his release from the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody in Al-Qadir Trust case.
While Addressing the party workers and supporters, the PTI chief urges Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to launch an investigation into 9th May violence that emerged after his arrest in Al-Qadir Trust case.
Also Read: Islamabad High Court approves Imran Khan’s two weeks Bail in Al-Qadir Trust case
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has expressed grave concerns over the present state of democracy in Pakistan lamenting that it is at “an all-time low”.
The former prime minister said that his faith is only on judiciary terming it as the “only hope” in the country for restoring the rights and freedoms of the people.
“Democracy is at an all-time low. The only hope we have is the judiciary,” the PTI chairman said while speaking with International media channel on Sunday.
The PTI chief revealed that the police stopped him for leaving the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises despite the court granted bail in multiple cases. “The police wanted to arrest me under MPO [Maintenance of Public Order] outside the courtroom,” he added.
During one of these raids, he said, the authorities forcefully broke down the doors of his house in his wife’s presence terming it an “unprecedented and unsettling situation” for himself.
“The country’s democracy is hanging by a thin thread”, Imran Khan said, lauding the judiciary for ‘saving democracy’. He urged the people of Pakistan to stand by judiciary, saying that the ‘mafia was threatening and attacking the courts’.
He further said that ‘the mafia was attacking the judiciary’ as it was the only obstacle in their ‘corruption’.
PTI chief Imran Khan takes jibe at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and said that Sharif at that time ordered attack on Supreme Court (SC) and kicked out the then Chief Justice. “In the past, Nawaz Sharif destroyed the independent judiciary for the sake of power”, he alleged.
He noted that the country’s freedom ends when independent judiciary is compromised, adding that the latter protects fundamental rights of the citizens. “The only reason Pakistan has not progressed because there is no rule of law,” he added.
The PTI chief said that there had been two assassination attempts on his life, raising concerns about his safety and security.
He recalled how the police launched an attack on his house in Lahore when he went to Islamabad for a court appearance. “The same day, another assassination attempt at the Islamabad Judicial Complex was foiled,” he claimed.
Naming his party ‘peaceful’, Khan reiterated that PTI is the only political party in the country where families including children attend public gatherings, contending why they would ever want anarchy in the country.
He asserted that those who provoked violence during PTI protests were not ‘their people’ and they were the one who instigated people on violence. “More than 3,500 PTI workers including senior leadership of party were imprisoned across the country and many were killed too,” he alleged.
The PTI chief once again condemned the manner in which he was arrest from the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Remember that PTI Chief Imran Khan was arrested by NAB and taken into custody by Rangers from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Al-Qadir Trust Case.
The PTI chief was taken into custody in the Al-Qadir Trust case by Rangers from Islamabad High Court where the former premier had gone to seek bail in multiple FIRs registered against him. The former prime minister was taken in black Vigo and shifted to NAB office Rawalpindi by the law enforcement agency.
According to reports, the PTI chairman was going for biometric at the IHC when he was taken into custody. The NAB officials had arrest warrants.
After his Arrest Supreme Court of Pakistan declares Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan’s arrest “illegal” by NAB in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
The three-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah in the supervision of CJP Umar ata Bandial, while hearing the former prime minister’s plea against his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case, termed Imran Khan’s arrest by Rangers from inside courtroom “illegal” and ordered his immediate release.
The Top court also ordered the PTI chief to appear in Islamabad High Court tomorrow for his case hearing.
A day earlier, Islamabad High Court (IHC) barred authorities from arresting PTI Chairman Imran Khan in all cases, even those are undisclosed, registered across the country until Monday (May 15).
The court also granted protective bail to PTI chief in three terrorism cases registered against him in Lahore and stopped authorities from arresting him till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9.
Justice Jahangiri also approved Imran’s protective bail in a case pertaining to the death of Zille Shah — a PTI worker who was killed during a party rally in Lahore earlier this year — for 10 days against surety bonds worth Rs50,000.
Al-Qadir Trust case
The Ex-Premier, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders, are facing a NAB inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.
As per the charges, the Imran Khan and others accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.
They are also accused of getting undue benefit in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.
