INTL Over 35 Killed In Pakistan Election Mayhem, Cell Service Suspended, As Imran Khan Languishes In Prison

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Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

Over 35 Killed In Pakistan Election Mayhem, Cell Service Suspended, As Imran Khan Languishes In Prison | ZeroHedge

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Over 35 Killed In Pakistan Election Mayhem, Cell Service Suspended, As Imran Khan Languishes In Prison​


BY TYLER DURDEN
THURSDAY, FEB 08, 2024 - 10:40 AM
Voting has ended in Pakistan's general elections which have been among its most tense in modern times, as popular former prime minister Imran Khan sits in a jail cell—his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) banned and with members forced to run as independents—and as violence has erupted in various corners of the country.

Throughout the day the government and security services took the drastic and extreme step of suspending mobile services, and at least nine people, among them two children and six security officials, were killed in attacks by armed groups. The day prior, scores were killed and wounded in election-related terror attacks and bombings, including instances of hand grenades thrown at polling stations.
Via Sky News



The Ministry of Interior has posted on X Thursday morning (local time) that in response to "recent incidents of terrorism" in the country, cellular networks were cut in order "to maintain the law and order situation and deal with possible threats."

NetBlocks has also confirmed there were internet outages in various provinces following "months of digital censorship targeting the political opposition." The military, or essentially the Pakistani deep state, is widely seen as ultimately the influencer of the election outcome, and is also broadly viewed as behind the persecution of Khan and his being barred from office.

As Bloomberg reviews of how things have long worked in Pakistan, a country which also cooperates deeply with Western intelligence services, especially the CIA in counter-terror operations...

Pakistan’s military has directly ruled the nuclear-armed nation for longer than any civilian government. While it has been 15 years since Pervez Musharraf stepped down as the last military ruler, the Inter-Services Intelligence, which oversees internal security, plays a significant role in foreign policy, security and the economy.
The generals’ backing is seen as crucial for civilian leaders to gain power, and to hold on to it. All prime ministers including Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif benefited from their support to win elections, and lost power when they clashed with the army.
Click to expand...
Wednesday into Thursday witnessed significant incidents of violence, including in Dera Ismail Khan district, where five police officers were gunned down after a bomb was set off. Additionally unknown attackers threw hand grenades at a couple of polling stations in Balochistan province.

Former PM Nawaz Sharif, via Reuters
Wednesday blasts in Balochistan had the highest casualty rate of the last 48 hours, with the Islamic State reportedly claiming responsibility, according to Time:

The grenades, which reportedly did not injure anyone, followed lethal explosions in Balochistan Wednesday. One blast occurred in the Pishin district, killing 18 individuals, CNN reported, and injuring 24, according to Jan Achakzai, the province’s Minister for Information and Public Relations. Another blast occurred in Qilla Saifullhah, killing 12 people, according to Achakzai. He warned in an X post that the death toll could rise and said the government had revisited security protocols.
Click to expand...
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has remained confident his party will win. His Pakistan Muslim League party is widely believed to be favored and poised to take an outright majority in parliament.

Nawaz Sharif said that "Once this election is over, we will sit down and decide who is PM (prime minister) and who is CM (chief minister)" of Punjab province. Vote counting is underway, after in some areas a two hour vote extension was given by emergency order.

Sharif's archrival, former PM Khan is meanwhile languishing in jail after a series of convictions on 'corruption'. More convictions were slapped on him a mere days before the election, leaving his supporters outraged and claiming a military-orchestrated conspiracy.

Several armed attacks on candidates' offices & polling stations have occurred over the last 48 hours, but there are also some early celebrations among PTI supporters...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1755603159479951538
View: https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1755603159479951538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1755603159479951538%7Ctwgr%5E821ee61869a0242c96460607a9304898c5fdee05%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fleast-35-killed-pakistan-election-mayhem-cell-service-suspended-imran-khan-languishes


He's popularly seen as a rare politician not afraid to take on and criticize the military, but he was removed from power in an April 2022 no-confidence vote, subsequently slapped with over 150 legal cases against him.


His PTI party has not only been forced to run as independent on the ballot, but even their party symbol, a cricket bat, has been banned from the election. His supporters say the military is essentially trying to 'disappear' Khan from all public life and from ever returning politically.
 
D

dvo

Veteran Member
Hard to believe they are a nuclear power…well, have such weapons. Crap hole of a country. Along with Bangladesh. Had employee associates from both countries. They can’t assimilate here. At least, only marginally.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
dvo said:
Hard to believe they are a nuclear power…well, have such weapons. Crap hole of a country. Along with Bangladesh. Had employee associates from both countries. They can’t assimilate here. At least, only marginally.
Click to expand...

Yeah, both the nukes and the means of delivering them.....
 
Cacheman

Cacheman

Ultra MAGA!
www.cbsnews.com

Pakistan election results show jailed former PM Imran Khan's backers heading for an election upset

Pakistan's election results show jailed cricket star and former PM Imran Khan's backers defying the odds to win seats, even as he sits in a prison cell.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com

Pakistan election results show jailed former PM Imran Khan's backers heading for an election upset​


Sami Yousafzai, Tucker Reals

7–9 minutes

Islamabad — As long lines of pessimistic Pakistani voters waited to cast ballots on Thursday, many had serious doubts about the power of their votes to influence the course of events in their country as it faces major security and economic challenges. By Friday morning, however, results trickling in showed a much closer race than many had expected, and a much better result for the man widely seen as Pakistan's most popular politician.

Former cricket star Imran Khan, who served as Pakistan's Prime Minister several years ago, and his PTI party's backers looked set to defy expectations and win a large share of the seats up for grabs in the parliament. That's despite the fact that Khan himself is in prison, and both he and his party were kept off the ballots. Khan and his backers have always claimed the myriad corruption and other charges he's been convicted of are baseless and politically motivated.
The PTI faced a sweeping crackdown ahead of the vote, with its candidates barred from holding rallies and forced to stand as independents. Along with a cut-off of cellular service on election day, delays in vote counting, allegations of deep-fake videos falsely claiming party leaders had called for election boycotts and deadly attacks targeting politicians, the circumstances led to widespread criticism over the freeness and fairness of the parliamentary elections.


No "foregone conclusion"?​

As official results came in Friday, they showed something few had expected: Independent candidates backed by the PTI had taken around about 50 seats in the legislature, not far behind the roughly 70 combined seats won by the two parties seen has having the backing of Pakistan's powerful military.

"Independents spring surprise, PTI-backed candidates defy odds," read the headline across the front page of Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper.


Local TV stations' unofficial counts showed independents leading many of the remaining races, too, after the nation went to the polls to fill 266 seats up for grabs in the 336-member National Assembly.


"There was a sense of certainty about the outcome," Sarah Khan, an assistant professor of political science at Yale University, told the French news agency AFP. "That sense of certainty got upset very early on… It's definitely not the foregone conclusion that anybody thought it might be."

"At least I am voting"​

The sun was shining, but it was bitterly cold as Ramzan Awan stood bracing himself against a brisk wind Thursday, waiting in a long line to cast his vote in Islamabad.

"I'm content, this is my fifth time voting," he told CBS News. Despite all the criticism from opposition figures of the election being neither free nor fair, Awan said he was determined to do his part for Pakistan's democratic system. "The political parties or the politicians never satisfy us or fulfil our wishes, but at least I am voting."


Iqbal Khan, an IT student who recently turned 18, was there to vote for the first time ever.

"I feel proud. I have a right to vote in this country, and I did, so I feel good about that," he told CBS News. He cast his vote for a PTI-backed candidate.

"I am doing my part, I'm taking advantage of a right to vote. I want Imran Khan to lead this nation, but he is in jail for politically motivated - and most importantly, bogus charges. I know the army has tied the hands and feet of Imran Khan. We are facing tyranny of the army, but still, I vote for PTI," he said.

Doubts, but hope for stability​

Pakistan's military has long been accused of interfering in, even rigging the nation's elections. Since Pakistan gained its independence from Britain in 1947, not one of its 24 prime ministers has ever completed a five-year term. The nation's political leaders have instead been derailed by assassination, military coups and being forced into exile.

"There has been massive pre-poll rigging over the last few months, in terms of sidelining the Imran Khan-led PTI by the arbitrary use of the judicial and executive branches of the state," former Senator Afrasiab Khattak, of the National Democratic Movement party, told CBS News. "Khan and many of his party colleagues are imprisoned, harassed and persecuted. PTI has been deprived of its well-known election symbol."

Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, a former government minister, was even more dismissive of this week's election before the voting, telling CBS News a "preferred political outcome was pre-determined."

On Friday, however, he was calling the results "probably the biggest election upset in Pakistan's political history."


Amir Rana, director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies think-tank, told CBS News the elections came at "a critical time."

He said the process was "highly compromised" and, regardless of who is elected, "the civilian governments in Pakistan have limited influence over foreign policy and security matters."

Rana said the military would continue pulling the strings in the background, and that means there's unlikely to be much in the way of change, even if millions of Pakistani voters demand it.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Posted for fair use.....
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Analysis: Pakistanis Defy Powerful Army In Elections

Pakistan’s powerful army was accused of orchestrating the jailing of opposition figure Imran Khan and the crackdown on his Pakistan PTI party ahead of the February 8 general elections. Despite the obstacles, independent candidates backed by Khan appear poised to win the most seats in the vote.
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PAKISTAN

Pakistanis Defy Powerful Army In Elections​

February 09, 2024 21:15 GMT
Pakistan’s powerful army, the ultimate kingmaker in the South Asian country, appeared to pull all the stops to prevent leading opposition figure, Imran Khan, and his Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party from winning the February 8 general elections.

Imprisoned since August, the former premier was convicted of treason, graft, and unlawful marriage in three separate trials just days before the vote.

The PTI, meanwhile, was the subject of a sweeping crackdown and blocked from holding rallies and removed from the ballot, forcing its candidates to run as independents.

But in one of the biggest election upsets in Pakistan’s 76-year history, independent candidates backed by Khan are poised to win the most seats in the country’s national assembly.

The outcome is seen as a major repudiation of the country’s military, which has an oversized role in politics in the country of some 240 million. Khan waged an unprecedented campaign against the generals after he was ousted from power in 2022, which he blamed on the army.

What happens next is unclear as the country enters uncharted territory. This is the first time a major political party has been forced to field its candidates as independents and has won the most seats in parliamentary elections in Pakistan.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), widely believed to have the blessing of the army, said he would seek to form a coalition government after his party secured the second-most seats in the vote.

But in a message from prison, Khan claimed victory. Despite being barred from the polls, the PTI has demanded that it has the right to form a government.

The army is unlikely to retreat after the election results. Many expect the country’s most powerful institution to play a major behind-the-scenes role as political parties jockey to form a coalition government.

The PML-N has entered coalition talks with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which came third in the voting, in what the PTI sees as an attempt to prevent Khan’s loyalists from forming a government.

There are also fears that the army could strongarm independent candidates backed by Khan into switching sides.

Such scenarios are likely to enrage the considerable support base of Khan, who remains popular, especially among the youth.

Many Pakistanis are bracing for uncertainty and upheaval in the days and weeks ahead.
 
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Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

Khan-linked Candidates Stun By Outperforming In Pakistan Election Against Military-Backed Nawaz Sharif | ZeroHedge

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Khan-linked Candidates Stun By Outperforming In Pakistan Election Against Military-Backed Nawaz Sharif​


BY TYLER DURDEN
FRIDAY, FEB 09, 2024 - 06:40 PM
Results which have continued to come in through late Friday, some 12 hours after polling for national and provincial assemblies ended Thursday, show PTI-affiliated candidates doing better than previously expected in a national 'shocker'. Ex-PM Imran Khan's party is indeed raising eyebrows and is 'overperforming' - as one Washington Post headline has put it.

This despite Khan's PTI having been forced by a prior legal ruling to run candidates on independent platforms in what his supporters say is a move by the military and its political allies to ensure Khan, who is in prison on dozens of corruption charges, can never rise to power again. The PTI has surged ahead for seats in parliament against recent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League.
Image via Al Majallah/Rob Carter


"With results from just 24 seats of 266-member National Assembly now outstanding, political maneuvering begins to form the next government," Al Jazeera reports of the latest figures to come in. "At least 134 seats are needed for a simple majority."

"PTI-backed candidates have won 98 seats while Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), has secured 67."

Still there are contradictory declarations of 'victory' happening...

In a speech earlier on Friday, Sharif claimed victory and invited allies.
Hours later, Imran Khan released an AI-generated “victory speech” video from jail, calling Sharif a “petty man” and saying no Pakistani would accept his claim of victory.
Click to expand...
Sharif still said as the public has been described as "stunned" (or rather in reality the military establishment is stunned) at Khan's party surge that he would seek a broad coalition government. "Since we don’t have a clear majority, we will reach out to steer the country out of the quagmire it is in," he announced.

"I don’t want to fight with those who are in the mood for fighting," he said before supporters in Lahore. "We will have to sit together to settle all matters."

Former PM Khan's AI-generated 'victory speech' issued from jail...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1756025235575320995
View: https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1756025235575320995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1756025235575320995%7Ctwgr%5E99f01783e06d0a1832239bb7769de7e03100996d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fkhan-linked-candidates-stun-outperforming-pakistan-election-against-military-backed



Sharif was viewed going into the election as the clear front-runner. He's seen as the "military's man" in Islamabad, while Khan's legacy has sought to be erased by those same elite powers.

Sharif's political 'reaching out' is unlikely to include former Khan officials and his PTI, but likely some who ran as independents will have to be dealt with cooperatively.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1755973327049662807
View: https://twitter.com/steve_hanke/status/1755973327049662807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1755973327049662807%7Ctwgr%5E99f01783e06d0a1832239bb7769de7e03100996d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fkhan-linked-candidates-stun-outperforming-pakistan-election-against-military-backed

The Washington Post underscores that what this shows is the Pakistani countryside continues to have large bastions of PTI and pro-Khan support: "But the provisional results of Thursday’s vote still pointed to lingering support for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, which was politically sidelined by the Pakistani establishment after Khan ran afoul of the military two years ago," it writes.

The contest is fundamentally between Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Bilawal Bhutto's parties. Already there are widespread accusations of "fraud" and political violence on the streets could persist.




As we detailed yesterday, the hotly contested election has been marred by political violence and acts of terrorism of the past several days, which has even included bombings at polling stations and attacks on political offices. 48 hours of violence going into Thursday's voting saw over 35 people killed and scores wounded.
 
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Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane
The US may be trying to cover it's tracks here...
apnews.com

Pakistan hits back at criticism of election conduct and insists cellphone curbs were necessary

Pakistan's parliamentary elections were held amid sporadic militant attacks and an unprecedented stoppage of all mobile phone services.
apnews.com apnews.com

Pakistan hits back at criticism of election conduct and insists cellphone curbs were necessary​


Updated 4:27 AM EST, February 10, 2024
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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan on Saturday hit back at criticism over the conduct of its parliamentary elections, which were held amid sporadic militant attacks and an unprecedented stoppage of all mobile phone services.

The strongly worded reaction from the Foreign Ministry insisted the vote was peaceful and successful.

The U.S. State Department said that Thursday’s vote was held under undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The European Union has also said it regrets the lack of a level playing field due to the inability of some political actors to contest the elections.

The ministry said it was surprised by “the negative tone of some of these statements, which neither take into account the complexity of the electoral process, nor acknowledge the free and enthusiastic exercise of the right to vote by tens of millions of Pakistanis”.

It said such statements “ignore the undeniable fact that Pakistan has held general elections, peacefully and successfully, while dealing with serious security threats resulting primarily from foreign sponsored terrorism.”

It said there was no nationwide internet shutdown and “only mobile services were suspended for the day to avoid terrorist incidents on polling day.”

In Thursday’s vote, no political party gained a simple majority and independent candidates backed by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan took a lead in the vote count.

It forced Khan’s main rival, three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, to announce plans to try to form a coalition government. Khan was disqualified from running because of criminal convictions.

Candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won 100 out of the 266 seats up for grabs in the National Assembly. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party captured 71 seats.

Also Saturday, the leader of a political party was wounded and two police officers killed in a clash in the country’s northwest.

The violence broke out in North Waziristan when Mohsin Dawar and his supporters tried to march toward an army facility while protesting delays in announcing the election result, police official Zahid Khan said.
 
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Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

Pakistan's New Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, Installed As Pro-Khan Protests Hit Parliament | ZeroHedge

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Pakistan's New Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, Installed As Pro-Khan Protests Hit Parliament​


BY TYLER DURDEN
SUNDAY, MAR 03, 2024 - 07:30 PM
Shehbaz Sharif, the chairman of the PML-N party (Pakistan Muslim League-N), has been elected as the new prime minister of Pakistan by lawmakers in Pakistan's National Assembly on Sunday, according to national broadcasters.

This will be the 72 year-old Sharif's (who is brother of Nawaz Sharif) second time to lead the country as prime minister, having previously been in office between April 2022 and August 2023. He's entering office for a five year term.
New Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, via PTI

PTI
Sharif said in his acceptance speech after a tumultuous and at times violent election season, "We were subjected to political victimization in the past but never took any revenge." This appeared to be a shot at former PM Imran Khan, but without naming him directly.

Sharif had secured 201 parliamentary votes to become the clear victor over rival Omar Ayub (at 92 votes), who significantly had the backing of Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Khan has been urging on his political movement and allies, candidates which were forced to run on independent platforms, from jail.

Khan's party has repeatedly claimed that the election "was stolen during the vote count" but the Election Commission vehemently denies this charge.

The Associated Press writes of the past weeks since the early February election, "Following days of negotiations, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party and his supporters formed an alliance after the Feb. 8 election, which was overshadowed by militant violence, a nationwide mobile phone shutdown, Khan's exclusion from the vote, and an unusual delay in announcing the result." This delay was used of Khan's party to issue charges of vote rigging and corruption.

Opponents made their anger known during new PM Sharif's acceptance speech before parliament, per the AP:

Holding portraits of Khan, some lawmakers stood in front of Sharif when he began his speech, shouting “vote thief” and “shame.” Sharif denounced their actions, saying they were causing chaos in parliament. He also said they should present their evidence of vote rigging to the relevant authorities.
Sharif then addressed the opposition saying, “I am offering you reconciliation. Let us sit together to work for the betterment of Pakistan.” But he was greeted with more protests and shouts.
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1764204110369390611
View: https://twitter.com/Peace4allpak/status/1764204110369390611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1764204110369390611%7Ctwgr%5E082b866a7ef85140c35166afc03e55a1a193714e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fpakistans-new-prime-minister-shehbaz-sharif-installed-pro-khan-protests-hit-parliament

Khan and his supporters have long described the more than one hundred corruption cases brought against him as ultimately the military's attempt to control the country and permanently 'disappear' Khan from politics.

As for Sharif, he vowed in the Sunday speech to repair ties with the United States, and blamed the Khan era for creating tensions with Washington.
 
Knoxville's Joker

Knoxville's Joker

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Plain Jane said:

Pakistan's New Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, Installed As Pro-Khan Protests Hit Parliament | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
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Pakistan's New Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, Installed As Pro-Khan Protests Hit Parliament​


BY TYLER DURDEN
SUNDAY, MAR 03, 2024 - 07:30 PM
Shehbaz Sharif, the chairman of the PML-N party (Pakistan Muslim League-N), has been elected as the new prime minister of Pakistan by lawmakers in Pakistan's National Assembly on Sunday, according to national broadcasters.

This will be the 72 year-old Sharif's (who is brother of Nawaz Sharif) second time to lead the country as prime minister, having previously been in office between April 2022 and August 2023. He's entering office for a five year term.
New Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, via PTI

PTI
Sharif said in his acceptance speech after a tumultuous and at times violent election season, "We were subjected to political victimization in the past but never took any revenge." This appeared to be a shot at former PM Imran Khan, but without naming him directly.

Sharif had secured 201 parliamentary votes to become the clear victor over rival Omar Ayub (at 92 votes), who significantly had the backing of Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Khan has been urging on his political movement and allies, candidates which were forced to run on independent platforms, from jail.

Khan's party has repeatedly claimed that the election "was stolen during the vote count" but the Election Commission vehemently denies this charge.

The Associated Press writes of the past weeks since the early February election, "Following days of negotiations, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party and his supporters formed an alliance after the Feb. 8 election, which was overshadowed by militant violence, a nationwide mobile phone shutdown, Khan's exclusion from the vote, and an unusual delay in announcing the result." This delay was used of Khan's party to issue charges of vote rigging and corruption.

Opponents made their anger known during new PM Sharif's acceptance speech before parliament, per the AP:


https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1764204110369390611
View: https://twitter.com/Peace4allpak/status/1764204110369390611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1764204110369390611%7Ctwgr%5E082b866a7ef85140c35166afc03e55a1a193714e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fpakistans-new-prime-minister-shehbaz-sharif-installed-pro-khan-protests-hit-parliament

Khan and his supporters have long described the more than one hundred corruption cases brought against him as ultimately the military's attempt to control the country and permanently 'disappear' Khan from politics.

As for Sharif, he vowed in the Sunday speech to repair ties with the United States, and blamed the Khan era for creating tensions with Washington.
Click to expand...
so the puppet is back in power...
 
N

night driver

ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
The MAJOR issue with Imran Khan was he was NOT expected to do carp. "Who really expects a Cricketer to have a CLUE about running a country." He, unfortunately, understood the Paki PEOPLE (all a bajillion-and-1 of the feuding factions) and had not SATISFIED ALL of them but he surprised each of them. It turns out that managing and captaining a Cricket squad is VERY MUCH like governing a country, the egos are a bit closer to you but they're pretty much the same.

US Deep State couldn't HAVE this upstart sports-ball-idiot DOING THIS so they found a way to get him evicted. Problem HERE is that the Vicky Newland wing of the Dim party had the usual understanding of the "PEEPUL" and reap now what they sowed 3 years ago.
 
P

Plain Jane

Just Plain Jane

In Wake Of Khan's 14-Year Sentence Being Overturned, Pakistani Judges Say Intel Operatives Threatened Them | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
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In Wake Of Khan's 14-Year Sentence Being Overturned, Pakistani Judges Say Intel Operatives Threatened Them​


BY TYLER DURDEN
WEDNESDAY, APR 03, 2024 - 08:40 PM
Early this week a Pakistani court suspended the 14-year jail sentence previously handed down to former prime minister Imran Khan while allowing for appeal of his conviction for graft.

The Islamabad High Court ruled in favor of Khan as his lawyer argued that the prior charge of retaining and selling state gifts in violation of his office when he led the country were politicized, trumped up charges concocted by his adversaries from the start.

Despite the judge ruling Khan and his wife could be freed on bail, they remain in prison (however, reportedly at very minimal security facilities) given they are serving sentences for other convictions.

Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which made a better than expected showing in the Feb. 8 parliamentary elections, have decried that this was all a conspiracy to prevent his return to office by the military-run deep state. There are still a whopping 170 legal cases against him.

The Monday ruling has proven a big boost and vindication for his PTI party, with a close aide of Khan's, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, saying in a statement: "I have said this since the conviction that the cases against Khan and his wife do not have the legs to stand on and it was only a matter of time before they would get thrown out."

On Wednesday a new bombshell has emerged which appears to confirm brazen 'deep state' interference in Khan's legal cases. The Guardian reports:

Claims by senior Pakistani judges that the intelligence agencies put pressure on them in cases involving the former prime minister Imran Khan have reached the country’s supreme court, following the publication of an unprecedented letter that has created a storm in Pakistan.
The letter from the six high court judges alleged the abduction of family members, torture, installation of cameras in their bedrooms and threats from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).
In one case the judges said they were forced to hear an appeal against Khan even after the majority of judges had decided it was not maintainable.
Click to expand...
Torture was also reportedly used to induce officials to make "false allegations" against Khan:

“Considerable pressure was brought to bear on the judges who had opined that the petition was not maintainable, by operatives of the ISI, through friends and relatives of these judges. Fearing for their security, they sought additional protection for their homes. One of the judges had to be admitted in a hospital due to high blood pressure caused by stress,” the letter claimed.
It alleged the brother-in-law of one judge was abducted by “individuals who claimed to be operatives of the ISI” and “tortured into making false allegations”.
Click to expand...


Meanwhile Khan's team in reacting to the suspension of the 14-year jail sentence on appeal expressed hope for the same outcome in the array of other charges facing him. "We welcome this decision and hopefully this will be the outcome in all other cases against Khan and his wife as they are all frivolous in nature," Bukhari continued.

There have also been new claims that the former first lady is being poisoned while in prison...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1775512994367132058
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Indeed, the graft sentencing and others had made Khan legally ineligible to run for public office for a full decade, and included a fine of the equivalent of $5 million for the couple (Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi). They've been in prison since August of last year, which helped set the stage of miring the February elections in violence. PTI candidates were also forced to run under independent labels. The tumultuous election week had witnessed bombings at polling stations and attacks on political offices. For example the two days going into the general election day vote saw over 35 people killed and scores wounded.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who emerged victorious while Khan had languished in jail, was seen more as the "military's man" in Islamabad, while Khan's legacy has sought to be erased by those same elite powers.
 
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