Islamabad: An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, and 93 others in a case related to last week's protests in Islamabad by his party supporters.
Khan, incarcerated since 2023, had on November 13 issued a "final call" for nationwide protests to be held on Nov 24, calling for the restoration of the PTI's electoral mandate, the release of detained party members, and the reversal of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The main protest in Islamabad ended in clashes in which 12 PTI supporters were killed, according to the party, while hundreds were arrested. The Islamabad Police submitted a list of 96 suspects in the Islamabad-based Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), including prominent leaders of PTI, such as Khan, Bibi, Gandapur, former president Arif Alvi, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, PTI Chairman Gohar Khan, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan and several others.
Imran says he will approach UN, other forums
Jailed former premier Imran Khan has said that he will approach the UN and other international forums to raise the “Islamabad massacre” issue. He also likened the alleged firing by the forces on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers on November 26 in Islamabad to that of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy.
“I am deeply saddened to hear about the killings of innocent citizens in the Islamabad massacre. The modern-day General Dyer has repeated the tragic history of Jallianwala Bagh. The blood of these people will not go in vain. We will take their case to every forum, including the United Nations,” Khan wrote on X this week.
Khan has been in jail since August last year and his party held a sit-in in Islamabad seeking his release, the return of the party’s stolen mandate and independence of judiciary. His party said at least a dozen of its workers were killed and hundreds wounded by the direct firing of law enforcers on the protesters. The government, however, claimed that neither the army nor police opened fire on protesters.
