ISLAMABAD: A prominent Pakistani-American fashion designer who was arrested in cases related to violent protests over the brief May 9 arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan was remanded in the custody of police in the southwestern city of Quetta on Monday, dashing the hopes of her lawyers and family that she would be released after six months behind bars.
Khadijah Shah, the founder of the luxury fashion brand Elan, was among thousands of people, including grassroots supporters and key Khan aides, who were rounded up after Khan’s arrest in a land graft case on May 9 unleashed nationwide protests in which his followers attacked and damaged government and military properties, including Lahore’s Jinnah House, the residence of a top army commander.
The designer, a vocal Khan supporter, is accused in four cases connected to the events of May 9, which were all being heard in Lahore, where Shah is imprisoned at the Kot Lakhpat Jail. She has been granted bail in all cases but had thus far been unable to secure release. Many other Khan supporters also complain that despite being granted bail, they keep being implicated in new cases. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has repeatedly accused the state, particularly the army, of cracking down on its supporters and members after May 9. The army and government deny this.
“Today #KhadijahShah case was fixed for announcement of judgment by LHC [Lahore High Court],” Shah’s lawyer Sameer Khosa said on X on Monday morning. “The MPO [maintenance of public ] order has apparently been withdrawn. A team from Quetta is here to take #Khadijah.”
Pakistani media widely reported later in the day that an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore had granted Quetta police two-day transitory remand of Shah in a case in which she is accused of murder and attempted murder in connection to the May 9 riots.
Her mother in law Mehvash Amin, a journalist and poet, tweeted that Shah had “committed no crime.”
Shah’s mother Aneela Shah appealed to the Supreme Court to take notice of her daughter’s case.
Shah’s husband Jarrar Shah said his wife was being taken to Quetta in “another manufactured fake case.”
On Nov. 15, an anti-terrorism court had granted Shah bail in the fourth and last case involving the May 9 protests. However, she was re-arrested on Nov. 17 under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance for 30 days.
Shah had subsequently challenged the detention in the Lahore High Court as “unlawful and unconstitutional,” and on Monday, the government in Punjab province submitted a notification to the LHC saying it had withdrawn Shah’s detention orders “with immediate effect”.
However, before Shah could be released, Quetta police filed a request in the ATC seeking her transit remand, which was granted for two days. The court also directed Quetta police to present Shah in court on Dec. 13.
Shah was arrested on May 25 after being on the run for almost two weeks following the May 9 violence. She denies any wrongdoing and says she protested peacefully.
Shah is the daughter of Dr. Salman Shah, a member of the finance team of former military ruler General Parvez Musharraf. Her father had also served as an adviser in the Punjab government during Khan’s tenure as prime minister. She is the granddaughter of a former Pakistani army chief.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has faced a widening crackdown since May 9, with thousands of his followers arrested and dozens of members of his party, including some of his closest aides, deserting him.
Khan, who is serving a three-year jail sentence in a separate graft case, says a slew of legal cases against him since he was ousted from office in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022 are fabricated and politically motivated and that his associates are being forced out of the PTI under duress by the military in a maneuver to dismantle his party before elections scheduled early next year. The army denies this.
