ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was released from the central prison in Rawalpindi on Thursday a day after being granted bail in a case related to the sale of state gifts, ending nine months of her detention while her husband met his legal team in jail on the high court’s directions.
Bibi was released from jail after spending 265 days in the case after the Islamabad High Court granted her bail on Wednesday. Her release also takes place six months after an appeals court suspended a 14-year sentence the couple received after being found guilty of retaining and selling state gifts in violation of government rules when Khan was Pakistan’s prime minister.
The former prime minister and his wife, however, were charged in July with new counts of retaining state gifts and kept in detention pending trial. Both deny any wrongdoing.
“Bushra BiBi, the former first lady, has been released from prison,” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said in a statement.
Following her release, Bibi traveled to her residence in Islamabad’s Bani Gala area in a motorcade from the jail, where she was greeted by the party’s charged supporters.
KHAN MEETS LAWYERS IN PRISON
Earlier on Thursday, the IHC directed Central Prison Rawalpindi’s administration to produce Khan in court by 3:00 p.m. to facilitate a meeting with his lawyers.
“Bring Imran Khan to Islamabad High Court at 3 p.m. to arrange his meeting with his lawyers,” Justice Ijaz Ishaq Khan remarked during a hearing. “I know you won’t implement my orders, but let me issue directions.”
The development followed Khan’s legal team moving the court, complaining that prison officials were preventing them and the ex-premier’s family from meeting him. Khan has been imprisoned for over a year, facing various charges, including corruption and sedition.
The prison authorities did not present Khan before the court by 3 p.m. but allowed the PTI founder to meet his lawyers at the Rawalpindi prison.
“Imran Khan is being kept in a six by eight cell [in the jail] and taken out of that cage for an hour and a half,” advocate Faisal Fareed told reporters after meeting Khan with PTI secretary-general Salman Akram Raja.
Fareed said he would file a petition in the high court regarding the dismal condition in which Khan was being kept in jail.
Currently, the former prime minister is incarcerated in the state repository case, involving the possession of a jewelry set comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace and earrings gifted to his wife by a foreign dignitary. The couple allegedly undervalued the set and retained it at a lower price.
The judge’s remark to produce Khan in court came amid an ongoing tussle between the executive and the judiciary, with the latter accusing the country’s powerful military and intelligence agencies of exerting pressure to secure favorable verdicts in political cases, particularly those involving Khan.
The military and intelligence agencies have denied these allegations, maintaining that they do not interfere in political matters.
Khan has not physically appeared in a court since August last year, with all hearings being held in the high-security Rawalpindi prison due to security concerns.
For the last two weeks, the Punjab government has banned all meetings with Khan and other prisoners in the jail, citing security reasons.
Khan’s legal team has struggled to secure his release, arguing that all charges against him are fabricated to keep him out of politics.
Former Pakistan PM Khan’s wife released on bail after nine months of incarceration
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Former Pakistan PM Khan’s wife released on bail after nine months of incarceration
- Bushra Bibi released from prison after securing bail in case related to sale of state gifts
- Rawalpindi prison authorities allow Imran Khan to meet lawyers in jail on court’s directions
‘Super Flu’: Pakistan confirms presence of fast-spreading H3N2 influenza strain
- Health authorities say virus is not new but shows higher transmission rate
- WHO reports global rise in seasonal influenza cases, especially in Europe
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health authorities on Monday confirmed the presence of the H3N2 influenza strain, often referred to as a fast-spreading “super flu,” in the country, but stressed there was no cause for panic, saying the virus is not new and remains manageable with standard treatment and vaccination.
Officials said the strain is part of seasonal influenza viruses that circulate globally each year and has undergone genetic changes that make it spread more quickly, a pattern health experts say is common for influenza.
The confirmation comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) reports a global increase in seasonal influenza activity in recent months, with a growing proportion of influenza A(H3N2) cases detected, particularly across several European countries, including the United Kingdom.
“Yes, we have witnessed confirmed cases of H3N2 influenza (super Flu) in Pakistan since November this year. Out of total around 1,691 cases reported throughout Pakistan since last month, 12 percent are of the so called super flu,” Dr. Shafiq-Ur-Rahman, Senior Scientific Officer at Pakistan’s Center for Disease Control (CDC), told Arab News.
He said the virus had undergone a genetic drift, a gradual mutation that is typical of influenza viruses.
“The symptoms are similar to other influenza strains, but speed of transmission is high for H3N2,” Rahman said, adding that treatment remains the same as for other flu types and vaccination is critical to limiting spread.
Seasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses that circulate year-round worldwide. The WHO has stressed that influenza continues to evolve through gradual genetic changes, making ongoing surveillance and regular vaccine updates essential.
Influenza spreads easily through droplets when infected people cough or sneeze. While most individuals recover within a week without medical treatment, the illness can range from mild to severe and may result in hospitalization or death, particularly among high-risk groups such as young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions.
Doctors say early symptoms of the flu can resemble those of the common cold, but the progression often differs. Colds typically develop gradually, beginning with a runny or blocked nose, sneezing and sore throat, followed by mild coughing and fatigue.
Flu symptoms, however, tend to appear suddenly and more intensely, with patients often experiencing high fever, extreme tiredness, body aches, headaches and a dry cough.
Health experts say this abrupt and severe onset is usually the clearest indication that an illness is influenza rather than a common cold, which is generally milder and slower to develop.
