In a major development, Aleema Khan, the sister of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, on Thursday threatened to knock at the door of all the international institutions in connection with the dozens of cases against the PTI founder.
Talking to journalists outside the Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, Aleema said: “We have left with no option but to take the cases to the international level.”
“Pakistan is a signatory of the UN convention,” she said, adding that they would approach all the international institutions to raise the issue.
Last year, a UN human rights working group had said in an opinion that Khan’s detention was arbitrary and in violation of international law. The Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had said that the “appropriate remedy would be to release Khan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law”.
Slamming the incumbent government in the Centre, the PTI founder sister said: “[Even] His physician physical is not allowed to meet PTI founder. This is torture.”
She also accused the jail authorities of causing trouble to Khan.
“Jail gate opens at 7am and meeting takes place in the night too when they [government] wants to do something.”
Responding to a question, she said: “When the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case will go to the high court, then the entire world will know how big a joke it is.”
Khan still stood by his words that he would face the cases, she said and hoped the PTI founder would be acquitted in all the cases by the courts.
Meanwhile, PTI Lawyer Shoaib Shaheen reiterated that the former ruling party’s demand about the judicial probe into events related to November 26. According to PTI, at least 13 of their supporters were killed during their do-or-die protest in the federal capital.
“Imran Khan termed dialogue before November 26 a trap,” he said, quoting the PTI founder.
Raising questions over the government’s sincerity in dialogue, the PTI lawyer said: “PTI’s negotiation committee were not allowed to meet Khan till today.”
“Today, Aleema Khan was also barred from entering the jail as she speaks,” he added.
Khan was of the view that dialoged should be held with those who had “real powers”, the PTI lawyer added.
Irfan Siddiqui had asked them to demand what they had authority, he said, adding that if the government had no power then why they were holding dialogue.
The two sides, after months of a political tug-of-war, have held two negotiation sessions on December 27, 2024 and on January 2, 2025.
The ongoing negotiations between the PTI and the government are currently paused due to the unavailability of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in the country.
During the last meeting between the government and the PTI’s negotiation committees, the two sides had decided that the Khan-founded party would present its charter of demands in the next session after meeting the jailed prime minister. Also, it was decided that the third round of talks would be summoned after the PTI committee met Khan.
‘Global parliamentary group to visit Pakistan’
A day earlier, Khan’s lawyer revealed that a global parliamentary body had decided to send its representative to observe the trials against the PTI founder.
Khan’s lawyer, Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry, told Geo News that he discussed the ex-prime minister’s cases with an official of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) following which it decided to send its trial observer.
The IPU, of which Pakistan is a member, facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.
“The IPU representative was briefed on the judicial proceedings in the £190 million case,” said Chaudhry in his statement. “They were also informed about the Toshakhana cases.”
He added, “I provided the IPU representative with details regarding the penalties in the Toshakhana cases, as well as the legal and constitutional flaws and the violation of the right to a fair trial.”
Chaudhry said the IPU representative was also briefed on the events of May 9 and the GHQ case. “In November 2023, an IPU trial observer attempted to visit Adiala Jail but was denied permission.”
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in Toshakhana case-I — one of the dozens cases registered against the former premier since his ouster from power in April 2022.
Currently, the incarcerated former prime minister is facing a number of cases including, diplomatic cable, Toshakhana reference, GHQ attack.
