Lahore, 5 Aug, 2023 (GNP): The chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan apprehended by Islamabad police from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, a few hours after the Islamabad trial court proclaimed him accountable for “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana case and sentenced him to three years in prison on Saturday.
However, the PTI highly condemned the current happenings that could change the dynamics of the former premier’s political career and refused it as a “politically motivated and predetermined decision.”
The Vice-Chairman of PTI Shah Mehmood Qureshi said during an interview that the decision was “politically motivated and predetermined” and the party had an intuition that the PTI chairman would be declared guilty.
He also expressed, “Imran Khan had seen it coming and he time and again predicted his arrest in the Toshakhana case. He knew he would be disqualified.”
“PTI chief already spoke about his fears during public speeches,” Qureshi added.
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The former prime minister was arrested from his residence in Lahore after being found guilty in the Toshakhana case. Khan had been accused of exploiting his tenure of the premiership to buy and sell gifts kept in state possession and received by him during foreign visits and worth above Rs140 million ($635,000). However, he denies all the charges against him.
Moreover, Qureshi raised the question of how the law enforcement officers had reached Zaman Park to take the PTI chairman before the verdict became public.
He asked, “Were the police already informed about this decision and that the verdict is about to be announced as well as the nature of the verdict?”
Furthermore, he asserted that police invaded the former prime minister’s residence in Lahore to arrest him without permitting him to take a warrant.
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He stated, “PTI will use its right to challenge the decision. We will knock on the doors of the higher judiciary. We will defend Imran Khan with legal and political means.”
The vice chairman of the party further said that the party’s core committee would hold a meeting where all the members mutually construct future strategies amidst Khan’s second arrest in three months.
“Justice should be visible. We approached the higher judiciary but we were not given a chance to represent and defend ourselves,” he said.
