Pakistan(National Times)- ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan, the sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, on Wednesday asserted that she does not see his release happening anytime soon, asking the party leadership to decide now how to secure his freedom. Speaking to journalists outside the Islamabad High Court, she claimed that the judges are under pressure and it is clearly visible. \u201cWe are standing in solidarity with the judges, but even that doesn\u2019t seem to be enough,\u201d she said, adding that it appears the plan is to keep the PTI founder incarcerated for several more months. Regarding the \u00a3190 million case, she said the hearing on the appeals seeking suspension of Imran’s sentence has now been fixed for June 26. \u201cThey kept telling us that we would be informed of the next date next week, but we made it clear that we won\u2019t leave until we get a hearing date,\u201d Aleema said, adding that the court later fixed June 26. Responding to a question regarding the PTI’s movement, Aleema said that Imran was satisfied with preparations for the movement. \u201cThis movement can no longer be stopped. All doors have been shut on us,\u201d she added. Last month, Imran \u2014 who declared himself PTI’s patron-in-chief \u2014 asked his party workers and leadership to get ready for a \u201cmajor nationwide movement” to send the incumbent coalition government packing. During his interactions with journalists outside Central Jail Adiala, Aleema said that Imran would not call people to Islamabad. “The PTI founder said the movement will be launched across Pakistan,” she added. However, she did not give a particular date for the PTI\u2019s upcoming movement. The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his ouster from power via the opposition’s no-trust motion in April 2022. Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, for his part, said the 26th Constitutional Amendment had ended judicial independence. He criticised the ongoing delays in court proceedings, saying, \u201cOne day, the lawyer says he\u2019s not prepared, the next day the judge is on leave \u2013 this is all a drama and delaying tactic.\u201d He said that everyone knows there is no substance in the case against the PTI founder. \u201cIf the hearing is held properly, this case won’t survive even for three minutes,\u201d Gandapur claimed. He said it was astonishing that the judge was reported to be on leave only in the morning and feared the same excuse would be used again on the next hearing. \u201cOur patience and hope are both exhausted,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Constitution and law of this country are now running on phone calls.\u201d In response to a question about recently presented budget, Gandapur said, \u201cNever in history has such a ridiculous budget been introduced.\u201d He declared that PTI would now take to the streets for a mass movement. \u201cOverseas Pakistanis are with us. They\u2019re watching the situation in Pakistan closely. Anyone who raises their voice for the PTI founder globally \u2013 we stand with them,\u201d he said, urging the overseas community to openly protest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan(National Times)- ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan, the sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, on Wednesday asserted that she does not see his release happening anytime soon, asking the party leadership to decide now how to secure his freedom. Speaking to journalists outside the Islamabad High Court, she claimed that the judges are under pressure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n