PTI protests the authorities after being barred from meeting Imran Khan

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), has protested against the authorities after being denied access to meet imprisoned Imran Khan. 

On Sunday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party accused authorities of denying Khan’s legal team access to the leader to get his signatures on important documents related to court proceedings. 

On Saturday, an Islamabad trial court found the former Pakistani Prime Minister guilty of “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana graft case. The court sentenced him to three-year imprisonment. Subsequently, he was arrested from his home in Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan. He was sent to the Attock jail.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party called Khan’s arrest from his home an “abduction.” The PTI in a statement shared on a WhatsApp group said, “Chairman’s legal team is not being given access to him for getting legal documents signed, as per the prerequisite, despite appeals made to Superintendent Attock Prison & Additional Home Secretary Punjab.” It further said, “This doesn’t sound like an arrest at all, it sounds like an abduction.”

The trial is related to the Toshakhana graft case, which alleged that the former Prime Minister purchased presents from the state storehouse Toshakhana at a discount, including a costly Graff watch, during his tenure as a prime minister, and then sold them for a profit.

The Election Commission of Pakistan also found him guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as the Pakistani prime minister from 2018 to 2022. Khan was also disqualified from holding public office for five years because of this reason. 

According to reports, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, called for peaceful protests. Qureshi, who is leading the PTI in the absence of Khan, said, “Peaceful protest is our right but no state asset is to be damaged.”