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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday offered talks to the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to ease political tension in the country, days after the party founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 17 years in jail each in a corruption case. Shehbaz made the offer while presiding over a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad after recent overtures by the opposition leaders. These days, PTI and its allies are talking about dialogue. I have repeatedly stated in the National Assembly that if the PTI is serious about negotiations, the government is equally prepared, the prime minister said. Shehbaz also said that talks could only move forward if they focused on legitimate issues and were free of blackmailing". He stressed that political harmony among all parties was essential for Pakistan's development and prosperity. His offer comes days after the opposition alliance - Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) - of which PTI is a part, said that its door to dialog
Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has directed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of his party to prepare for a street movement against "Asim Law", in an apparent reference to Chief of Defence Forces Asim Munir. Khan, 73, who has been in jail since August 2023, faces multiple cases launched against him since his ouster from power in April 2022. He and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to 17 years in jail each by a court on Saturday in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case. "My message for Sohail Afridi is to prepare for a street movement. The entire nation must rise for its rights. To strive for justice is a sacred duty, and I am ready to lay down my life for Haqeeqi Azadi (true freedom) of my nation," Khan said in a post on X on Monday.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan urged his supporters to gear up for countrywide protests following a 17-year jail term handed to him and wife Bushra Bibi in a corruption case. Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 17 years in jail each by a court on Saturday in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case. Khan, 73, who has been in jail since August 2023, faces multiple cases launched against him since his ouster from power in April 2022. The Toshakhana 2 case involves alleged fraud in state gifts that the former first couple received from the Saudi government in 2021. In a conversation with his lawyers in Adiala Jail after the military-style trial decision Khan urged his supporters to stand up in protest after the decision, according to a midnight statement posted on Khan's X account. It was not known who posted his conversation on his personal account as Khan has no access to his social media handles in jail. I have sent a message to (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister)
Pakistan government said on Saturday that there is "no embargo" on former prime minister Imran Khan's sons meeting their incarcerated father if they travel to the country. Pakistani authorities have reportedly imposed unannounced restrictions on meetings with Khan on the grounds that the visitors use such meetings for political ends. Following the move, his family and party members have expressed concerns about the conditions in which he is being kept inside the prison. "There has been no embargo on Suleman Khan and Kasim Khan to meet their father, Imran Khan, at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi," Interior State Minister Talal Chaudhry told reporters here. Suleman and Kasim, who currently live in London, are Khan's sons from his first marriage with British TV personality Jemima Goldsmith. Chaudhry's statement comes days after the brother-duo in an interview with Sky News earlier this week said they fear they might never see their jailed father ever again.
A Pakistan accountability court on Saturday sentenced jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years imprisonment each in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case. The case is about alleged fraud in state gifts, which the former first couple received from the Saudi government in 2021. Special court judge Shahrukh Arjumand announced the judgment in the case in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Khan and Bushra were awarded 10 years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Pakistan Penal Code and seven years under different Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10 million on each of them.
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan's health is "perfectly fine" but he is being subjected to "mental torture in solitary confinement", his sister Dr Uzma Khan said on Tuesday after meeting him at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail. The development comes amid rumours on social media about Khan's health as his family was constantly being denied from meeting him in prison for more than a month.