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‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’: Senior PTI leaders, workers voluntarily surrender to police

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  • Senior leaders including Qureshi, Umar and activists board prison van.
  • “We are facing sham FIRs and NAB cases, custodial torture,” Imran Khan
  • “PTI’s court arrest drive aimed at creating political instability”: Sanaullah.

As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) “Jail Bharo Tehreek” (court arrest movement) kicked off Wednesday, the party’s senior leaders including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Azam Swati, along with party workers voluntarily surrendered themselves to the Lahore police.

The movement, according to the PTI rationale, aims to counter the “attack on constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights” and the “economic meltdown” by the incumbent government”.

Taking to its Twitter handle, the PTI shared that its party’s Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Secretary General Asad Umar, Swati, Omar Cheema and other leaders and workers are being taken to the Kot Lakhpat jail in the police van. 

The prisoner’s van earlier reached the Camp Jail where workers chanted slogans and several landed on the van’s roof.

Former PTI minister Hammad Azhar, who was present outside the Camp Jail, said: “We have arrived to have ourselves arrested. They will run out of places [to imprison us]. We have just told a few hundred people for now. They are saying there is no space in jail and have asked us to wait.”

The workers were also seen making TikTok videos. PTI leader Mian Abid also ascended on a police mobile and kicked it while breaking its glass in the process. The politician tried escaping the site, but the police chased and arrested him.

Earlier, as the crowd grew more sizable, police barred everyone, including officials, from entering the Capital City Police Office (CCPO) — where the party had gathered.

Many of the party’s senior leaders — including Qureshi, Umar and Swati — and activists boarded a prison van, with several workers also climbing onto the roof of the van.

Local police later clarified that these arrests were entirely voluntary, “we did not arrest them, they have come and sat in the prison van of their own discretion.”

Other PTI leaders who climbed onto the police vehicle include former Punjab governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema.

Several PTI workers, including women, were also present outside the CCPO building and many lay on the road, demanding that they be arrested.

The PTI workers then got down from the police van and made their way towards Charing Cross.

‘Peaceful, non-violent protest’

PTI Chairman Imran Khan — in the wake of sedition cases filed against his party leaders including Fawad Chaudhry, Swati and Shahbaz Gill — had announced the movement on February 4.

In the first phase of the movement, the party’s senior leaders — Qureshi and Umar — had planned Tuesday to voluntarily surrender themselves to the authorities.

Taking to Twitter, former prime minister and PTI chief said today that the party “is set to start” the Jail Bharo campaign for two main reasons.

“One, it is a peaceful, non-violent protest against the attack on our constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights. We are facing sham FIRs and NAB cases, custodial torture, attacks on journalists and social media people,” wrote the PTI chief.

Khan went on to say that the second is against the economic meltdown brought on by a “cabal of crooks who have money laundered billions in looted wealth and gotten NROs for themselves while crushing the people, especially, the poor and the middle class, under the burden of spiralling inflation and rising unemployment.”

To invigorate party workers for the movement, Khan also released a video message urging them to “fill up prisons and shatter the idols of fear”.

He called on all Pakistanis to join the movement to achieve “Haqeeqi Azadi” (true freedom).

Govt to scrutinise arrested workers

The provincial government has decided that the criminal histories, and tax and bank records of people arrested under the PTI’s court arrest drive will be thoroughly scrutinised.

“If anyone is found involved in corruption or criminal cases, immediate action will be taken against them,” sources privy to the Punjab government said.

The sources added that all law enforcement agencies have been mobilised in the run-up to the PTI’s movement, adding that since jails in the provincial capital are brimming to capacity, the arrested individuals would have to be sent to jails in other cities like Mianwali and DG Khan.

In a meeting chaired by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, it was also decided that women and poor workers would not be detained during the PTI movement.

Movement aimed at creating ‘political instability’

Earlier, Sanaullah had said that the PTI’s court arrest drive was aimed at creating political instability, and a law and order situation in the country.

Chairing a meeting on law and order, he had said the PTI wanted to get media attention by creating drama.

“The miscreants should be exposed by presenting evidence of their wrongdoings before the masses,” he had added.

In the meeting, it was decided that the “miscreants” would be arrested and law and order would be ensured in the country at all costs.

Moreover, records of those arrested will be maintained and their activities will be mentioned in their character certificates.

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Imran Khan’s bail request in the Toshakhana-II case has had its objections dismissed.

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In the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court has dismissed the objections to PTI founder Imran Khan’s bail request.

IHC instructed the registrar’s office to schedule the hearing for the case for Monday.

Imran Khan’s attorneys, Shaheena Shahab, Ayesha Khalid, and others, arrived in court today as IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.

The registrar’s objections to the plea were questioned by Justice Aurangzeb. In the Toshakhana-II case, Imran Khan submitted a bail application, according to counsel Ayesha Khalid.

Justice Miangul said that previous rulings in circumstances comparable to this one adhered to the consistency principle. In this instance, the petitioner was a man, he added.

Bushra Bibi was given bail because she was a woman, according to the justice, and an application like this one was denied yesterday.

Given that the case action date was November and the power of attorney was executed in July, Justice Aurangzeb raised a concern about the timing.

Justice requested the help of Advocate Shah Khawar in this case.

When an applicant was held in jail, Shah Khawar retorted that it was standard procedure to obtain signatures on required documents, such as a power of attorney.

Imran Khan’s attorney, Shaheena Shahab, asked the court to send out notices regarding the bail plea. A judge named Aurangzeb said that the law would be observed.

Following arguments, the court dismissed the registrar office’s objections and ordered that the case hearing be scheduled for Monday.

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PTI presents seven nominations to Imran Khan for the judicial commission.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed seven individuals to its founder, Imran Khan, for consideration as founding members of PTI for membership in the next Judicial Commission.

None of the nominated individuals are attorneys; rather, the roster includes four Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and three senators.

The proposed MNAs are Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Aamir Dogar, while the senators are Shibli Faraz, Mohsen Aziz, and Aun Abbas Bapi. Sources suggest that the Judicial Commission will include one opposition member from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PTI founder will evaluate and endorse two names from the suggested list, which will then be sent to the Speaker for future actions.

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Miller confirmed that Biden’s administration got a letter from a congressman requesting the release of the PTI founder.

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Following his removal as prime minister in 2022, Khan started a protest movement against a coalition of his enemies led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Since then, he has been in jail since August 2023 and has been involved in hundreds of cases.

In response to ARY News’ question over the congressmen’s letter during a media briefing in Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “We will respond in due course to the members.”

The United States wants to see Pakistan maintain its democracy, Miller stated.

The release of the PTI founder’s wife and sisters was a result of a meeting between the US Deputy Assistant Secretary and a Pakistani government representative in Islamabad, which was further questioned during the press briefing.

“I won’t be addressing that,” Miller said when asked if the United States was involved in their release. Miller did, however, affirm that the conference included the defense of Pakistan’s basic liberties and rights.

Sixty-two members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden on October 24 to support the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and other political prisoners.

The congressmen, who included well-known Muslim members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, said in their letter that the Biden administration should ask Pakistani authorities to guarantee the safety of PTI founder Imran Khan.

They also underlined that US policy should concentrate on Pakistan’s human rights situation and asked that US ambassadors attend the PTI leader’s incarceration.

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