PTI leaders Jamshed Cheema and Mussarat Cheema were re-arrested immediately after their release from Adiala Jail.

PTI’s official Twitter account also said that the two leaders were not allowed to meet their lawyer.

Amid speculation that he could announce leaving the party like Shireen Mazari, Qureshi was re-arrested immediately upon release.

However, he said that he was with the party and would continue to remain in the party.

You can read a longer version of this story here.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan likened the departure of multiple leaders from his party to a ‘forced divorce’.

“Also wondering where have all the human rights organizations in the country disappeared,” he wrote on Twitter.

His tweet comes a few hours after PTI leaders Shireen Mazari and Fayaz Chohan announced they were leaving the party.

Fayaz Chohan also claimed that the people who attacked General Headquarters in Rawalpindi were ‘trained’ by PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

“I will say categorically that there was no PTI leader present who could stop workers from violence on May 9,” he said.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Fayaz Chohan announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the party but would continue to remain part of politics.

He said he had been sidelined from the party after advocating against a confrontation with the establishment.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad Press Club, he said that he had even been barred from entering Bani Gala.

He said that people like Shahbaz Gill and Fawad Chaudhry had become ‘heroes’ in the party just because they were willing to take a harder line against the establishment.

He also added that Imran Khan had not even mentioned or condemned the persecution he faced from the police, despite his house being razed on the orders of Maryam Nawaz.

PTI leader Shireen Mazari announced that she is quitting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and will step away from active politics.

“I have decided to leave active politics,” she said, “I will not be a part of PTI or any other political party,” she said in a press conference.

She also condemned the events of May 9 and 10, especially attacks against state installations.

She had been arrested for a fifth time right after re-release from jail under the MPO.

You can read a detailed version of her press conference and a profile here.

Citing alleged security threats, the Interior Ministry of Pakistan has imposed a ban on Medialogic Pakistan, a prominent television ratings company.

The ministry issued a notification on Tuesday, citing the company’s alleged involvement in illegal activities.

According to the notification, Medialogic Pakistan’s activities have raised serious concerns regarding national security.

The ban comes as a precautionary measure to safeguard the integrity and stability of the media landscape in the country.

PTI MPA Abdul Razzaq Khan Niazi has announced his decision to quit the party, saying that his decision was not taken under “any kind of pressure”.

“I am standing with my army. The people of Pakistan are being pitted against the army,” he said at a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday. “We never came into politics with the support of any party. Just work for the public and they will vote for you.”

He said he took his decision after May 9 riots when installations and memorials of martyrs were attacked. He went on to add that such protests cannot be started without the direction of party leaders.

He added that he had never taken pressure from anyone since the day he joined politics. “We only do politics keeping in view the needs of the public,” he added.

“Pakistan forces fought two wars and sacrificed their lives for us. Terrorism ended from Pakistan because of the forces. Pakistani people have always supported their forces, if there is no public support then same will happen what happened in East Pakistan. The people are being put in front of the army, there will be loss if the people and the army come face to face.”

More to follow…

PTI chief Imran Khan has informed the national-graft buster’s Rawalpindi office that he himself did not read the summary approved by the cabinet.

“I did not read that summary myself in detail, [the-then adviser to the PM on accountability] Shahzad Akbar briefed me orally,” he said in response to a query from NAB officials.

He appeared before the national-graft buster’s Rawalpindi office in a case pertaining to the £190 million NCA scandal, which was previously known as the Al-Qadir Trust case, investigation.

Khan added that he approved the summary on the advice of Akbar. “If the cabinet does not approve, then we will file a case in the London court. It was told that if we file a case, we will have to pay millions of rupees,” he said.

The National Accountability Bureau has made Khan a party in the case. The anti-graft body has sought responses from Khan on 20 questions related to the alleged transfer of “illegal money”, sources told Aaj News.

NAB has asked the former prime minister to submit details of assets.

The PTI chief faced questions from a combined investigation team at NAB’s Rawalpindi office for over an hour on Tuesday.

Sources said Khan told the investigation team that he is not in control of the record about the transfer of £190 million from the UK to Pakistan. The record is with the cabinet division while I don’t have access to the NCA record over the issue, Khan was quoted as saying by the sources.

The former prime minister also said that NAB was already in possession of the record about the Al Qadir Trust, which Khan founded with his wife Bushra Bibi, and other PTI leaders.

The government and the NAB claim that Khan and Bushra Bibi used Al Qadir Trust for receiving Rs6 billion worth of land from property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain of Bahria Town. In return, the Khan government granted approval for the transfer of £190 million to a Supreme Court of Pakistan account where Riaz was to deposit a huge sum of money to pay a fine that the top court had imposed in a ruling.

Meanwhile, PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar claimed that the PTI chief was not cooperating with the NAB team. “Imran Khan is not submitting the records called for by the court,” he said at a press conference.

He claimed that the former premier approved the letter without showing it to the cabinet. “£190 million was returned to be spent on the public. The money brought back from abroad was not deposited in the national exchequer,” said Tarar.

Tarar, who is special assistant to the PM on interior Attaullah Tarar, alleged that 458 kanals of land were given to Imran Khan as a bribe in return for this bribe.

“The documents of Al-Qadir Trust are signed by Imran’s wife and Farah Gogi. Government and military properties were burnt to hide corruption. Propaganda is being done to rob the country of billions of rupees,” he said.

More to follow…

PTI leader Shireen Mazari was arrested for the fifth time on Tuesday moments after a court in Gujrat ordered her release, the party claimed.

She was apparently taken away in a Vigo without a number plate, media reported.

Earlier today, Mazari was presented by the police in court in a case pertaining to inciting party supporters in Kharian on May 9—the day when PTI chief was arrested.

Mazari’s lawyer Advocate Faraz Ahmed informed Kharian Judicial Magistrate Akhtar Ali that his client never participated in any protests and cited the lack of evidence on the police’s part.

After hearing the arguments, the court directed the police to discharge the PTI leader.

IHC issues notice to Islamabad IG in contempt case on Mazari’s arrest

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued a notice accepting the request to make Islamabad IG Dr. Akbar Nasir a party to contempt of court in the case of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari on Tuesday.

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the petition filed by Imaan Mazari, daughter of Shireen Mazari to make the Islamabad IG a party to the contempt of court.

Afterward, the court approved the request and adjourned the hearing until May 25.

On Monday, PTI leader Shireen Mazari was released from Adiala Jail around 7 pm, but immediately re-arrested similar to her previous release.

The re-arrest was confirmed by her lawyer Ahsan J. Pirzada on Twitter.

He added that this was her fourth arrest in the last 10 days.

On Monday, the Lahore High Court ordered her release but she was arrested for a fourth time as soon as she stepped out of the Adiyala prison in Rawalpindi.

An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad extended interim bail of PTI chief Imran Khan in eight cases till June 8.

At the hearing of the case, Khan said that a joint investigation team arrived at his house in Lahore and made him a party in the case.

The court asked whether the JIT members were in court. The prosecutor replied that the team was not in court.

This was the state of their seriousness, the court said, and added that the team members would have been here if they were serious.

The court added that they should have been here and summoned the JIT team in half an hour.

More to follow…

PTI chief Imran Khan has claimed that there was martial law in Pakistan and the country was being run by the army chief.

“Look, the democracy right now is in the doldrums because it looks like martial law right now,” he said during an interview with Times Radio that aired on Monday. “I mean, the country is basically been run by the army chief now.”

The PTI chief was asked about the future of his party and democracy in Pakistan amid the ongoing political situation.

Khan had also made such claims during an interview with BBC earlier this month when he appeared in the Islamabad High Court to seek bail in multiple cases, which he got in a single day. He blamed the army chief for all the incidents after his arrest on May 9.

He alleged that a perception that Khan would notify the army chief after coming to power led to such political developments.

In Times Radio interview, the PTI chief went on to add that the future of democracy was “very bright” in Pakistan because his party with his 70% vote bank cannot be stopped.

“So whenever you have elections, in fact, the sympathy factor, has grown the vote bank, if anything has grown. So if a party has a vote bank, it’s only a matter of time before there are elections, whatever sort of elections and the party will win,” Khan said.

When asked about the ECP’s decision to disqualify him from holding public office and the state gifts case, he described it as a “complete joke” and the case.

The case is pending in the court and the PTI chief believes that the case would be “thrown out” as it was a ridiculous case. Another case is about the 190 million pounds case, earlier called as Al-Qadir Trust. Out of the 159 cases, these are the two corruption cases.

Ready for talks with establishment, including army chief

In an interview with Independent Urdu, Khan said that he was ready for talks with the establishment, including the army chief. He added that the prime minister was “irrelevant” as the COAS was taking decisions.

“I am a politician, ready for talks with anyone including the establishment and the army chief. It takes two to tango and I think no one here is ready for talks,” Khan said.

He was asked whether the PTI chief was ready for negotiations with PM Shehbaz Sharif and COAS General Asim Munir.

He went on to claim that the army chief’s statements on social media implied that there was an attempt to finish his party.

PTI chief Imran Khan has condemned the arrest of party leader Shireen Mazari despite the court orders to release her.

“Strongly condemn Shireen Mazari’s arrest from outside Adiala after her release orders were issued by the court,” he said in a tweet on Tuesday. “This regime is sinking to new lows. Her health is fragile and subjecting her to this ordeal by rearresting her despite courts giving her bail is simply trying to break her spirit .”

Mazari was re-arrested on Monday after the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court granted her bail.

“Shireen won’t break as she has more courage than most people I have come across in my life. However, the country is rapidly descending towards becoming a Banana republic where might is right,” Khan said.

https://www.aajenglish.tv/live/politics-may-23-2023

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has said that he could be arrested again on Tuesday (today) as he appears in multiple cases in Islamabad.

His convoy entered Anti-Terrorism Court as a huge number of Islamabad Police personnel were deployed outside the building.

Imran Khan’s convoy left for the federal capital in the early hours of Tuesday. The clips of his motorcade on the motorway were shared on PTI’s social media accounts.

Speaking in a Twitter Space on Monday night, Khan confirmed that he was travelling to Islamabad on Tuesday and urged supporters to remain calm in case he was arrested.

Khan is set to appear before the anti-terrorist court in Islamabad to get bail in seven different cases. The court had granted him bail until May 23.

He is also set to appear before the National Accountability Bureau in the £190 million case, previously known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. This is the same case that had led to his arrest from the Islamabad High Court by Rangers personnel on May 9. Khan had been summoned on May 18 but had chosen not to appear.

Imran Khan is also set to appear in the Election Commission of Pakistan in a case regarding ‘contempt of Election Commission’. A four-member bench led by Member Sindh Nisar Durrani will hear the case. The case was filed after Imran Khan made remarks about Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja’s favourable attitude towards the sitting government.

Strict security arrangements are expected to be made on Imran Khan’s arrival similar to his previous hearings. The judicial complex which houses the anti-terrorism court will be completely sealed off and heavy contingents of police and rangers will be on duty.