ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad acquitted former prime minister Imran Khan and several other PTI leaders on Wednesday in a case linked to a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Mr Khan, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Sheikh Rashid, Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Ali Nawaz Awan, Raja Khurram Nawaz, Faisal Vawda, Shehzad Waseem, Sadaqat Abbasi, Shibli Faraz, Saif Ullah Khan Niazi, Shehryar Afridi, Fayazul Hasan Chohan, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Asad Qaiser and Zaheer Abbas Khokar were among those named in the FIR registered at Aabpara Police Station regarding the protest.

The cases were filed after PTI supporters staged demonstrations outside the ECP offices nationwide following the ECP’s decision to disqualify Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case last year.

The FIR was registered under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including Section 109 (abetment), Section 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), Section 186 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of public functions), Section 341 (wrongful restraint), and Section 506 (criminal intimidation).

UN chief wants ex-PM’s situation to change ‘in a much more positive way’

According to the FIR, the accused leaders and party workers gathered at Zero Point on Mr Khan’s instructions, carrying party flags and banners and chanting slogans.

Judicial Magistrate Yasir Mehmood of Aabpara court acquitted the accused, citing the prosecution’s failure to substantiate the charges against them.

UN chief on Imran

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants to see Imran Khan’s current situation “evolve in a much more positive way”, according to his spokesperson, Dawn.com reported.

Mr Khan is serving out his sentence in the Iddat case at Adiala Jail. His sentences in two Toshakhana cases against him were suspended while the Islamabad High Court acquitted him in the cipher case.

On Monday, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which has the mandate to investigate cases of deprivation of liberty by governments, said the cases against Mr Khan were “without legal basis” and politically motivated to exclude him from the political arena.

The panel said the appropriate remedy would be to release and compensate the former prime minister. This was the second disapproval at the international level of the government’s action against PTI and its incarcerated founder within a week after the passage of a US resolution last week calling upon Pakistan to thoroughly probe the allegation of irregularities in the Feb 8 elections.

The government and its allies on Tuesday rejected the recommendations of the UN working group regarding Mr Khan’s detention and described it as a conspiracy against the institutions.

Questioned in a press conference a day ago on whether the UN chief supported the group’s recommendation to immediately release the PTI founder, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “It’s a recommendation from an independent panel.”

“We want to see the current political situation, the current situation of Mr Khan, evolve in a much more positive way,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2024