Rawalpindi:
Imran Khan’s sister Aleema is exempt from appearing in court to be accused of protesting her brother’s release last year. The Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi will then hear the case a week later, on September 2nd.
The Sadiqabad police had registered a case against her after the violent November 26 protests in Islamabad. On Monday, Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) awarded Judge Amjad Ali Shah his Attorney General Muhammad Faisal Malik’s request for exemption.
Aleema is out on bail. However, her sons were arrested in Lahore last week. On August 22, police with Shershah Khan, one day after his brother Shahrez Khan detained in custody in connection with May 9, 2023, riots. The family said that ordinary men captured a car driven by Aleema’s husband and took Shershah away by force.
Aleema condemned the arrests and said they were aimed at dampening her family and PTI. The party’s officials also condemned the detention and called them illegal and politically motivated.
In Lahore, another ATC Shahrez Khan lasts for police custody for eight days. He was arrested the end of August 21 from Aleema’s residence, with PTI claiming the household staff were assaulted and family members harassed.
Police later connected him with the Jinnah House attack through supplementary statements made in September 2023.
Defense Attorney Salman Akram Raja opposed the police’s request to keep Shahrez in custody for further questions and said to arrest him 27 months after the incident was “ridiculous.”
He argued that Shahrez was not involved in political agitation and had been in chitral during the riots. He added that Aleema Khan had already been discharged in the same case.
Police acknowledged that Shahrez was not wanted in any other 9 May case, although prosecutors maintained his name appeared in several items.
