Pakistan Feb.8 election was stolen from his party, ex-PM Imran tells SC via video link

Tariq Butt, Correspondent / Agencies

Jailed former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan said on Thursday February's national election was stolen from his party, describing it as the "biggest robbery of a public mandate."

Imran, speaking in the Supreme Court (SC) via video link from Adyala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, said he was being held in solitary confinement.

His remarks were the first to be heard in open court since he was jailed in August.

"My party is being victimised. There have been gross human rights violations," Imran said. "The Feb.8 election was the biggest robbery of a public mandate."

The Election Commission has denied the election was rigged.

Imran, a 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, was jailed on corruption charges. He is also fighting dozens of other cases.

He and his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Party say the charges were politically motivated to thwart his return to power.

Candidates backed by Imran won the most seats in February's election but fell short of a majority required to form a government. His opponent Shahbaz Sharif became prime minister in a coalition government with several other parties.

Imran was allowed by the top court to appear and plead petitions he had filed against amendments in the country's anti-graft laws, which he claims was made to favour corrupt politicians.

The court, however, turned down his request to live-stream the proceedings. It said it was not a public interest case, according to a Reuters reporter inside the court room.

Imran has previously been speaking to a select group of reporters who are allowed to cover his closed-door trials conducted inside the jail.

His aides have been conveying his messages after visiting him and his social media accounts remain active, but it is unclear who is operating them. He has faced numerous cases since his ouster in 2022 in a parliamentary vote of confidence.

Meanwhile, Imran has asked the Lahore High Court (LHC) to set aside a decision by the Punjab government to prosecute him and other leaders of his party on charges of involvement in the May 9, 2023 riots.

Last week, the Punjab cabinet approved fresh legal action against the former prime minister and other PTI leaders for "building a hate-narrative against state institutions.”

In a petition filed through lawyer and PTI lawmaker Latif Khosa, Imran pleaded that the federal and Punjab governments are scared of him and sensing his release from the false cases. He said both governments wanted to implicate him in fake cases.

Imran claimed that ever since his removal from power, he and his party leaders, workers and supporters have been persecuted, hounded, incarcerated and subjected to a torturous ordeal.

He pointed out that on May 24, the Punjab cabinet approved the nomination of PTI leaders in additional cases. The decision was made in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of his arch rival Nawaz Sharif, he added.

Imran said the government had failed to bring economic stability to the country due to political instability and wrong policies. He said under these circumstances, the Punjab cabinet’s decision would further exacerbate the situation.

The petition stated that Imran had asked for certified copies of the agenda of the cabinet meeting, along with the minutes of the meeting and the decision through a written application addressed to the Punjab home secretary on May 27, but the required information had not been furnished so far.

It argued that the impugned decision by the Punjab cabinet for registration of cases against the petitioner and other PTI leaders was illegal, without jurisdiction, mala fide and of no legal consequence, which ought to be annulled being in violation of Article 10-A and other provisions of the Constitution.