ISLAMABAD: Information minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday urged the judiciary to deliver swift justice in May 9 rioting cases while presenting “incontrovertible evidence” against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a day after US lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to advocate for the release of the party’s jailed founder, ex-premier Imran Khan.
The violence on May 9, 2023, erupted after Khan’s brief detention on graft charges, with individuals carrying PTI flags vandalizing government buildings and military properties, including setting fire to the official residence of a senior Pakistani general.
PTI has denied any involvement in the violence, maintaining that neither its leaders nor supporters orchestrated the riots, while complaining about a sweeping state crackdown targeted the party.
During a news conference in Lahore, Tarar played videos from May 9, asserting that the footage clearly implicated PTI in the rioting.
“This is incontrovertible evidence,” he said. “Now it is the responsibility of the courts to ensure swift justice.”
The minister asked PTI leaders to publicly apologize over the May 9 events, which he described as part of a larger conspiracy against Pakistan.
His assertion came only a day after more than 40 US lawmakers raised concerns about the former prime minister’s imprisonment, asking President Biden to push for his release.
“A focal point of our concern is the unlawful detention of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, widely perceived to be Pakistan’s most popular political figure,” the letter said, seeking a more active approach from the US embassy in Pakistan, including “advocating for the release of political prisoners, the restoration of human rights, or respect for democratic principles” in the country.
The letter follows a similar note written last month by the over 60 US lawmakers to Biden, asking him to use his administration’s “substantial leverage” with Pakistan to secure Khan’s release.
The former Pakistani prime minister had accused the Americans of hatching a conspiracy against his administration shortly before his ouster from power in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April 2022.
He was viewed to be critical of US policies, though his supporters believe the change of government in Washington could help secure his release from prison after President-elect Donald Trump takes over.
Government seeks swift justice in May 9 rioting cases as US lawmakers urge Imran Khan’s release
https://arab.news/y6wb6
Government seeks swift justice in May 9 rioting cases as US lawmakers urge Imran Khan’s release
- Pakistan’s information minister says there’s ‘incontrovertible evidence’ of PTI’s involvement in May 9 violence
- His assertion comes after 40 US lawmakers raised concern over Khan’s imprisonment in a letter to Biden
Imran Khan not a ‘national security threat,’ ex-PM’s party responds to Pakistan military
- Pakistan’s military spokesperson on Friday described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat”
- PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan says words used by military spokesperson for Khan were “not appropriate”
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday responded to allegations by Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry from a day earlier, saying that he was not a “national security threat.”
Chaudhry, who heads the military’s media wing as director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), spoke to journalists on Friday, in which he referred to Khan as a “mentally ill” person several times during the press interaction. Chaudhry described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat.”
The military spokesperson was responding to Khan’s social media post this week in which he accused Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir of being responsible for “the complete collapse of the constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”
“The people of Pakistan stand with Imran Khan, they stand with PTI,” the party’s secretary-general, Salman Akram Raja, told reporters during a news conference.
“Imran Khan is not a national security threat. Imran Khan has kept the people of this country united.”
Raja said there were several narratives in the country, including those that created tensions along ethnic and sectarian lines, but Khan had rejected all of them and stood with one that the people of Pakistan supported.
PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, flanked by Raja, criticized the military spokesperson as well, saying his press talk on Thursday had “severely disappointed” him.
“The words that were used [by the military spokesperson] were not appropriate,” Gohar said. “Those words were wrong.”
‘NATURAL OUTCOME’
Speaking to reporters earlier on Saturday, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif defended the military spokesperson’s remarks against Khan.
“When this kind of language is used for individuals as well as for institutions, then a reaction is a natural outcome,” he said.
“The same thing is happening on the Twitter accounts being run in his [Khan’s] name. If the DG ISPR has given any reaction to it, then I believe it was a very measured reaction.”
Khan, who was ousted after a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, blames the country’s powerful military for removing him from power by colluding with his political opponents. Both deny the allegations.
The former prime minister, who has been in prison since August 2023 on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated, also alleges his party was denied victory by the army and his political rivals in the 2024 general election through rigging.
The army and the government both deny his allegations.
