Lahore: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, already serving a prison term, has now been sentenced to 17-year imprisonment along with his wife Bushra Bibi in another corruption case.
On Sunday, Imran gave a call to his supporters to launch nationwide protests while attacking Pakistan’s current leadership and General Asim Munir, the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces.
Imran said the country was solely under ‘Asim Law’, where verdicts are pre-written.
Imran and Bushra Bibi were both sentenced to 17 years in prison by a court on Saturday in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case.
Imran, who is lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, asked his lawyers to give a call on his behalf to supporters in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
A message was posted on Imran’s X handle urging party workers “to strive, justice is a sacred duty, and I am ready to lay down my life for Haqeeqi Azadi (true freedom) of my nation.”
“At this moment, Pakistan is being government solely under ‘Asim Law’. Here, verdicts
are pre-written… I have sent a message to (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister) Sohail Afridi to prepare for the street movement. The entire nation will have to rise for its rights. Struggle is worship, and I am even ready to embrace martyrdom for the true freedom of Pakistan!” Imran conveyed.
“Like the baseless decisions and sentences of the last three years, the Toshakhana-2 decision is also nothing new to me. This decision was given in haste by the judge without any evidence and without fulfilling the legal requirements,” he expressed, adding that his legal team was not even heard.
“For the struggle to establish the supremacy of law and restore the Constitution, it is essential for the Justice Lawyers Forum and the lawyers’ front to come to the forefront. Only the system of justice can protect the people. Without it, neither economic progress nor moral development is possible,” Imran reiterated.
The cricketer-turned-politician alleged that he and his wife were being continuously subjected to mental torture “by keeping us in solitary confinement”.
“There is a ban on our books, TV, and meetings. Every prisoner in jail can watch TV, but even watching TV has been banned for me and Bibi Bushra,” Imran alleged.
The 73-year-old Imran, Pakistan’s only World Cup-winning captain, has been in jail since August 2023 and faces multiple cases lodged against him since his ouster from power in April 2022.