Supporters asked to prepare for protest movement: State institutions acting on ‘pre-written decisions’: IK

ISLAMABAD: The jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday accused the country’s military leadership and judiciary of dismantling the rule of law, describing his imprisonment as politically motivated and calling on supporters to prepare for a nationwide protest movement.

In a statement posted on X, Khan said Pakistan was effectively being run by the army chief, Gen Asim Munir, claiming that state institutions were acting on “pre-written decisions” rather than due legal process.

He dismissed a recent conviction in the Toshakhana 2 case as baseless, saying the verdict was delivered hastily without evidence and without giving him or his lawyers a hearing.

“Like the verdicts and sentences of the past three years, this decision is nothing new for me,” Khan said, adding that he and his legal team would appeal against what he described as “bogus decisions” in the Islamabad High Court.

He said he had full confidence in his lawyer, Salman Safdar, and his team.

Khan also alleged that both he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were being subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, amounting to mental torture.

He said they had been denied access to books, television and meetings, despite such facilities being available to other prisoners.

“Every prisoner in jail is allowed to watch TV, but even this has been banned for me and Bushra Bibi,” he said.

“The books sent by my family are stopped by jail authorities. We are kept in solitary confinement for weeks at a time.”

Describing the treatment as inhumane, Khan said it had not weakened his resolve.

He accused the authorities of targeting women for political reasons, arguing that such actions violated Islamic and moral principles.

He said his wife, whom he described as a homemaker with no political role, had been placed in solitary confinement solely because of hostility towards him.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025