SWABI: PTI leader and former speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser on Friday rejected the conviction of party founder Imran Khan and his wife in the Al-Qadir Trust case and said that the verdict was based on political vendetta.

“Element of revenge is evident in the court’s decision,” Mr Qaiser told Dawn.

He said Imran had nothing to do with the case and that the verdict was meant to keep himin jail for a longtime.

The PTI leader said that the Al-Qadir verdict was delayed three times in an act against the principles of justice.

He said that everybody knew that the Al-Qadir University was a public entity offering contemporary education.

Mr Qaiser said that thePTI chief didn’t benefit from the entire Al-Qadir Trust affair.

“The verdict was not based on merit,” he said.

The PTI leader said that party activists would utilise all their energies to further their struggle against the government.

He said that the current “regime” had turned the country into a banana republic to strengthen its illegal rule.

“We [PTI] will continue working for the supremacy of the Constitution and the law and will never give up our struggle for it,” he said.

Mr Qaiser said that thePTI activists were not afraid of such court decisions.

He said that the federal government’s anti-PTI tactics would prove harmful,especially when both sides were holding talks.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2025