—— Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi have been indicted
—— Both have pleaded not guilty in cipher case
—— PTI leaders have been imprisoned in Adiala jail
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has slammed the “complete collapse of our justice system” and termed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return to the country as the execution of London “agreement”.
In a statement, originally issued through his family on October 24 but tweeted out from the PTI chief’s official X handle on Friday (today), the former prime minister — who was removed from power through a parliamentary vote in April last year — said that all that is happening today is a “total mockery of the law”.
“My Pakistanis! In the last few days, we have witnessed a total mockery of the law. All that is happening today is not just an execution of a London “plan” but London “agreement” that was signed between a cowardly fugitive & corrupt criminal and his facilitators,” Khan was quoted as saying.
The statement was released six days after Nawaz’s homecoming from four years of self-imposed exile in London on October 21.
Nawaz — the three-time former prime minister — was given protective bail in two graft cases and arrest warrants in another case were suspended before his arrival pawing a way for a smooth return.
Lamenting the relief granted to the PML-N leader, Khan said: “The only way a convicted criminal could be allowed to return to politics with a clean chit is by destroying State institutions. And hence, what we are witnessing is a complete collapse of our justice system.”
The PTI chairman added: “My Pakistanis! Please remember, all the cases against me are completely bogus & politically motivated, concocted only to keep me in jail for certain till after the elections or maybe much longer beyond the elections. However, the growing political awareness and increasing resistance against closed-room conspiracies in my nation scares them.”
Khan also shared his health status during his jail time, saying: “At the moment I am physically fit. I would know if my body was experiencing change from weakness”.
He claimed that he might be poisoned in jail citing previous attempts on his life.
He, however, urged the people to continue their struggle and added that the party leadership has been advised to start campaigning for elections.
In the latest good turn for Nawaz, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday restored his appeals against accountability courts’ conviction verdicts in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases, which is the revival of his pursuit of getting the sentences he has been awarded in the graft cases nullified.
On October 24, the thrice-ousted prime minister’s bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases was extended till October 26 after the anti-graft watchdog told the court that it had no objections to the pleas filed by Nawaz
Moreover, the Punjab government also approved the suspension of Nawaz’s sentence in the Al-Azizia reference on that same day.
The ousted prime minister was handed down a 10-year jail sentence in the Avenfield properties corruption reference for owning assets beyond known income in July 2018 and a year for not cooperating with the anit-graft watchdog — both of the sentences were to be served concurrently.
In the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference, Nawaz was sentenced to seven years in jail on December 24, 2018, and then taken to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail from where he was shifted to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail the next day.
The elder Sharif was released from jail in March 2019 and travelled to London for medical treatment in November 2019 after permission from the Lahore High Court. Later, the IHC declared him a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020.
But last week, the protective bail granted by the IHC in both the graft cases, paved the way for Nawaz’s smooth return to the country.
