You are here

  • Home
  • Ex-PM Khan party activist Sanam Javed walks free after court declares her arrest ‘illegal’

Ex-PM Khan party activist Sanam Javed walks free after court declares her arrest ‘illegal’

Ex-PM Khan party activist Sanam Javed walks free after court declares her arrest ‘illegal’
In this screengrab, taken from video released by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on social media platform X, PTI party activist Sanam Javed gestures as she arrives at the National Assembly of Pakistan in Islamabad on July 18, 2024. (Photo courtesy: X/@ptiofficial)
Short Url

https://arab.news/nbr2a

Updated 18 July 2024
Follow

Ex-PM Khan party activist Sanam Javed walks free after court declares her arrest ‘illegal’

Ex-PM Khan party activist Sanam Javed walks free after court declares her arrest ‘illegal’
  • Javed has been in jail since last year on charges of inciting people to violence over Khan’s brief arrest in May 2023
  • Islamabad High Court earlier this week ordered her release from prison, directed authorities not to arrest her again
Updated 18 July 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR
Follow

ISLAMABAD: Sanam Javed, a leading activist of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party finally walked free on Thursday after an Islamabad court declared her arrest “illegal” and allowed her to relocate to her home in Punjab province, her lawyer confirmed. 
Khan’s arrest in a graft case on May 9, 2023, saw hundreds of his supporters allegedly pour into the streets across the country, ransacking military and other properties. Thousands, including Javed, were arrested in the aftermath and some were tried by military courts after the authorities promised to bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice.
Javed has been in detention for over a year, facing charges in a dozen cases since the riots on May 9, 2023. 
Thursday’s decision by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) followed the earlier relief Javed received on Monday when the high court ordered her release and instructed police and other law enforcement agencies not to arrest her again.
“The IHC has declared the arrest of Javed illegal and forbade to arrest her again in any case registered till today (July 18),” her lawyer Ali Ashfaq told Arab News.
Balochistan Police this week sought Javed’s arrest in a similar case registered last year after which her father, Javed Iqbal Khan, filed an application in the IHC challenging the legality of her detention.
In his judgment, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb stated that Pakistan’s attorney-general (AGP) assured the court that “Javed shall not be arrested in any case” and that the Balochistan Police shall not press its request before Islamabad’s court for Javed’s transfer to Balochistan. 
The judgment also said Javed is at liberty to travel to her home in Punjab. However, Justice Aurangzeb warned the PTI activist that she ought to exercise utmost caution and discretion in her social media statements. 
Ashfaq said Javed was arrested in 12 different cases, 11 of which were registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Of these, seven were registered in Lahore, three in Sargodha, and one in Gujranwala.
He said the court also questioned the legality of numerous police cases based on a single allegation leveled in different locations.
“On July 15, the court ordered that she should not be removed from the jurisdiction of Islamabad and should not be arrested in any other case,” he said.
Ashfaq said the court had asked the AGP to appear in person and justify that everything that had been done was according to law.
“Today, I received a message from the Attorney General about half an hour before the court session and met him in his office, where he assured me that to resolve this issue, Javed would not be arrested anywhere in Pakistan,” Ashfaq added.
He said authorities have assured him that police cases against Javed in Islamabad and Balochistan would be quashed.
“While four police cases have been discharged, in the other eight cases she is on bail and we will face trial proceedings in the concerned courts,” he said.
‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED CASES’
The PTI says it has been facing a crackdown and mass arrest of its members for standing by Khan, who has been in jail since August last year. Pakistani authorities deny the allegations.
Last week, Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were arrested by Pakistani authorities in a case involving the illegal sale of state gifts, after a court accepted their appeals against a ruling that they had violated the country’s marriage law and ordered their immediate release.
Khan and his wife were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined in February by a court that ruled their 2018 marriage broke the law. Bushra was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called “Iddat,” after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.
The ex-premier has been in jail after being convicted in four cases since last August. Two of the cases have since been suspended and he was acquitted in a third, so the Iddat case was the only one keeping him in prison.
Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says the cases against him are “politically motivated,” aimed at keeping him from returning to power. Pakistani authorities deny this.

Topics: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party Sanam Javed

Four soldiers, five militants killed in northwest Pakistan operation — military

Four soldiers, five militants killed in northwest Pakistan operation — military
Updated 28 sec ago
Follow

Four soldiers, five militants killed in northwest Pakistan operation — military

Four soldiers, five militants killed in northwest Pakistan operation — military
  • Security forces, militants traded fire in Karama area in South Waziristan, says military’s media wing
  • Pakistani has suffered surge in militant attacks since November 2022 in areas bordering Afghanistan
Updated 28 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistani soldiers and five militants were killed during a gunbattle in the country’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the army’s media wing said on Thursday, as Islamabad grapples with surging militancy.
The exchange of fire between security forces and militants took place in South Waziristan’s Karama area on Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the army’s media wing, said in a statement.
The army said four Pakistani soldiers were killed during the exchange of fire. These included Naib Subedar Taib Shah, 38, Lance Naik Gulab Zaman, 30, Lance Naik Muzammil Mehmood, 30 and Lance Naik Habibullah, 28.
“Resultantly, five Khwarij were sent to hell due to effective engagement by own troops,” the ISPR said, referring to the term the military uses for the Pakistani Taliban militants.
The army said it was conducting a sanitization operation in the area to eliminate any other militants.
“Security Forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” it concluded.
Pakistan has been witnessing a spike in militant violence in its northwestern and southwestern regions that border Afghanistan, particularly after the Pakistan Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off its fragile truce with the government in Islamabad in November 2022.  
The militant group, which is said to have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban. 
Ties between Islamabad and Kabul have been strained as the former accuses the latter of sheltering TTP militants. Afghanistan denies the allegations and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally. 

Topics: Pakistan Army

Pakistan says Trump election as US president won’t affect China ties

Pakistan says Trump election as US president won’t affect China ties
Updated 49 min 9 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan says Trump election as US president won’t affect China ties

Pakistan says Trump election as US president won’t affect China ties
  • FO spokesperson says Pakistan wants to strengthen and broaden relationship with US 
  • Says Pakistan and US maintain ties via mutual respect, confidence and non-interference
Updated 49 min 9 sec ago
Muhammad Ibrahim

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday its relations with key longtime ally China would remain “unaffected” by Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, as Islamabad walks a diplomatic tightrope between the two global powers.
Pakistan maintains a delicate balance in its relations with China and the US. While aligned with the US for military cooperation and counter-terrorism efforts, Pakistan has strengthened economic ties with Washington’s rival China through initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Washington and Beijing’s ties remain strained as they compete for global influence, with the US seeking to maintain its dominance and China aiming to expand its reach. The two countries are often embroiled in disagreements over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
This complex rivalry impacts Pakistan as it navigates its strategic partnerships with both world powers while grappling with a prolonged economic crisis.
“Pakistan’s relations with China are all-weather,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said during a weekly press briefing when asked if Trump’s victory will affect the country’s China policy.
“They are strategic and a source of stability in our foreign policy.” 
Baloch said Islamabad does not even need to consider the possibility that its relationship with China will be affected by any domestic development in another country.
She stressed that Pakistan’s relations with China have grown and expanded over the last several decades, emphasizing that the relationship remained immune to developments around the world.
Baloch dismissed claims that President-elect Trump could influence Pakistan’s politics as speculative, emphasizing that Pakistan and the US were “old friends” maintaining relations based on mutual respect, confidence, and non-interference.
In response to another question, the spokesperson said President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already congratulated President-elect Trump on his presidential election win.
“Our relations with the United States are decades old, and we look forward to further strengthen and broaden Pakistan-US relationship in all fields,” she added. “As the Deputy Prime Minister said in a tweet yesterday, we look forward to fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation between Pakistan and the United States.”
Pakistan and the US cultivated strong defense ties during the Cold War days yet their relationship was also tested by divergent priorities on various issues. 
However, tensions between the two countries escalated, particularly after 9/11, when US officials criticized Pakistan for not sufficiently supporting the American military efforts against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Washington and Islamabad’s ties were further strained as the former suspected the latter of supporting the Taliban in its 2021 takeover of Kabul, allegations which Islamabad rejected. Tensions rose further in 2022 when former PM Imran Khan accused the Biden administration of orchestrating his ouster via a parliamentary vote, a charge the US denied. 
Pakistan, under Shehbaz Sharif’s two separate stints as prime minister in 2022 and 2024, has made attempts to improve its ties with the US.

Topics: Pakistan US Ties US presidential election 2024 Donald Trumnp Pakistan China Ties

Related

Pakistan signals cooperation with new US administration, raises concerns over Middle East wars video
Pakistan
Pakistan signals cooperation with new US administration, raises concerns over Middle East wars
Special Pakistan may find common ground with Trump but won’t be ‘first priority’ — analysts video
Pakistan
Pakistan may find common ground with Trump but won’t be ‘first priority’ — analysts

Pakistan rejects reports of joint military operation with Iran against Baloch militant group

Pakistan rejects reports of joint military operation with Iran against Baloch militant group
Updated 07 November 2024
Follow

Pakistan rejects reports of joint military operation with Iran against Baloch militant group

Pakistan rejects reports of joint military operation with Iran against Baloch militant group
  • Militant outfit Jaish Al-Adl claimed Pakistani, Iranian forces killed 12 of its members in joint operation in Saravan on Tuesday
  • Pakistani security forces conducted operation alone within its territory this week against smugglers, says FO spokesperson
Updated 07 November 2024
SAADULLAH AKHTER

QUETTA: Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson on Thursday rejected reports that Islamabad and Tehran launched a joint military operation in the country’s southwestern border area this week to kill 12 militants, describing it as “fake news” despite a banned militant group claiming the action took place.
The spokesperson’s remarks followed militant outfit Jaish Al-Adl’s statement this week in which it claimed Pakistan and Iran’s forces on Tuesday carried out airstrikes against its fighters in the Iranian border city of Saravan, near Pakistan’s Panjgur district in Balochistan. It said the strikes killed 12 of its members and injured four others.
Iranian rights organization Halvash had also confirmed the development on social media platform X.
“First, I would like to state that this information is not correct. This is fake news,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson, said during her weekly press briefing. 
“Statement by terror groups should not be taken seriously.”
Baloch, however, confirmed Pakistani security forces had conducted an operation west of Panjgur to root out smugglers in southwestern Balochistan province.
“The operation took place 30 kilometers within our territory against smugglers, and this was undertaken by Pakistani security forces alone,” she disclosed.
Balochistan Levies, a paramilitary force responsible for law and order in the restive province, confirmed they received reports of an attack in Koh e Sabz area located 70 kilometers from Panjgur city on Tuesday.
“Three people were injured in the attack but we don’t know who carried out the attack in the remotest bordering area,” Shakeel Ahmed, a Levies soldier in Panjgur, told Arab News.
Ahmed said the paramilitary force did not know how many people were killed in the attack since Levies did not receive any bodies in Panjgur.
A local journalist in Panjgur said three persons injured in the alleged attack on Tuesday belonged to Peshawar, Karachi and Washuk cities of Pakistan. He said they were brought to Panjgur for medical treatment.
“The government officials in the district did not confirm the attack yet,” he told Arab News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
HISTORY OF ROCKY RELATIONS
Pakistan and Iran have had a history of rocky relations despite a number of commercial pacts between the two countries, with Islamabad being historically closer to Washington.
One of Iran’s poorest regions, Sistan-Baluchestan on the border with Pakistan has long been plagued by unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baloch minority and religiously motivated militants.
Jaish Al-Adl or “Army of Justice” has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Iranian forces in Sistan and Baluchestan over the years, straining ties between the two Muslim-majority countries.
Pakistan and Iran came to the brink of war in January this year after both countries launched cross-border strikes against armed groups and their hideouts operating in border villages.
Regarding this week’s visit by Iran’s foreign minister to Islamabad, Baloch said both sides had agreed to strengthen coordination on border areas.
“Both sides agreed that we will cooperate to ensure that the border between Pakistan and Iran will be a border of peace and amity, and we will strengthen coordination on all aspects of border security,” she said.

Topics: Pakistan Iran border Pakistan foreign office

Pakistan stock market closes above 92,000 points thrice in a row after policy rate cut

Pakistan stock market closes above 92,000 points thrice in a row after policy rate cut
Updated 07 November 2024
Follow

Pakistan stock market closes above 92,000 points thrice in a row after policy rate cut

Pakistan stock market closes above 92,000 points thrice in a row after policy rate cut
  • KSE-100 index climbs 499 points or 0.54 percent to close at 92,520.48 points on Thursday
  • Analysts say market responding to reduced interest rates, move to restart privatizations
Updated 07 November 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed above 92,000 points for the third time in a row on Thursday, with analysts attributing the bullish trend to market volatility triggered by reduced interest rates and investors selling their stocks for profit. 
Pakistan’s benchmark index settled at 92,304.32 points on Tuesday and 92,021.44 points on Wednesday. As per the stock market’s official website, the benchmark KSE-100 index increased by 499 points or 0.54 percent on Thursday to close at 92,520.48 points. 
The bullish trend has been observed in the market since Monday when Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent. This was the fourth straight reduction since June, as the country keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
“The market is responding to reducing interest rates and, importantly, is also picking up on the government’s razor-sharp focus on the economy evidenced by the push to increase tax-to-GDP, attract FDI, and restart privatizations,” Raza Jafri, chief executive officer of leading financial services corporation EFG Hermes Pakistan, told Arab News.
He highlighted how lower interest rates were helping in creating valuation multiples at the KSE-100 but their “positive impact on the real economy will come with a lag.”
Jafri said the rally this year was led by banks, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, adding that a rotation toward the construction, auto and oil marketing sectors more aligned with economic recovery was witnessed.
“An analyst at Topline Securities said the market showed notable volatility, with the index reaching a peak of 92,967 and dipping to a low of 91,891 as investors capitalized on profit-taking in large-cap stocks,” Topline Securities said in a social media post.

The development comes as the South Asian nation’s economic indicators continue to improve after it secured a $7 billion, 37-month bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September. 
Last year, Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign default when it clinched a last-gasp $3 billion IMF bailout program. The country has suffered a prolonged economic crisis that drained its foreign exchange reserves and saw its currency weaken amid double-digit inflation.

Topics: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)

Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case
Updated 07 November 2024
Follow

Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case
  • Khan and his wife are accused of receiving expensive land through trust as bribe from real estate tycoon
  • IHC has instructed Pakistani trial court to announce decision on Khan’s acquittal petition, says his party
Updated 07 November 2024
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday remanded former prime minister Imran Khan’s acquittal petition back to a trial court in a corruption case in which he is accused of receiving land as bribe from a real estate tycoon, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said. 
The corruption case against Khan, or the Al-Qadir Trust case as it has become popularly known, involves accusations that the former prime minister and his wife, Bushra Bibi, set up a charitable trust named Al-Qadir in 2018 as a front to receive valuable land as gift from real estate developer Malik Riaz Hussain. 
The Al-Qadir Trust runs a university outside Pakistan’s capital Islamabad devoted to spirituality and Islamic teachings, a project inspired by Khan’s wife who has a reputation as a spiritual healer. Khan and his wife deny any wrongdoing, saying that charges against them are politically motivated. 
In August, the IHC issued a temporary stay barring a trial court from issuing the final order in the case. The former prime minister filed an acquittal plea, which was turned down by an accountability court in September.
“IHC two-member bench has remanded the acquittal petition by Mr. & Mrs. Khan back to the trial court in Al-Qadir Trust case,” the PTI said in a statement. 
The party said the defense counsel had argued that “no personal gains” received by Khan could be established in the case and that the trustees had not benefitted from any transaction. 
“IHC has instructed the trial court to announce the decision on the acquittal petition,” the PTI said. “We are hopeful it’ll lead to ordering the release of both Mr. & Mrs. Khan.”
HOW DID THE BRIBE ALLEGEDLY WORK?
Pakistan’s government says the controversy originated with 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Hussain forfeited cash and assets to settle a British probe into whether they were proceeds of crime.
Instead of putting it in Pakistan’s treasury, Khan’s government used the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Pakistan’s then interior minister Rana Sanaullah said Hussain gave the land to Khan through the Al-Qadir Trust in exchange for that favor. 
Khan, who was removed from office after losing a parliamentary vote in April 2022, continues to remain popular among the masses. He has been languishing in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in four cases. Pakistan’s courts suspended two of the verdicts against Khan while he was acquitted in the remaining two.
Since his ouster from the Prime Minister’s Office, Khan has led a campaign of unprecedented defiance against the country’s powerful military, whom he accuses of colluding with his political rivals to orchestrate his removal and keeping him imprisoned. 
The military and incumbent coalition government deny Khan’s allegations vehemently.

Topics: Imran Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party graft case

Latest updates

Fleetwood goes low to lead Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Fleetwood goes low to lead Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran indifferent to US election result
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran's priority is to develop relations with Islamic and neighboring countries. (AFP/Fi
Diplomatic incident in French-owned Jerusalem compound
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot(R) walks away after cancelling his visit to the Eleona Domain.
Saudi Quality of Life Program’s CEO stresses ‘people first’ approach
CEO of Saudi Arabia's Quality of Life Program Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Bakr speaking at the World Urban Forum in Cairo. (SPA)
Lebanon MPs demand UN protection of heritage sites from Israel attacks
Picture shows the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.