#release imran khan

[bristolmuslimheritage]

Signage, Map location & Unmarked Graves of Murdered Girls at Avonview Cemetery (Muslim Section) Ignored: Letter of Complaint Raises Issues - Dawn - Founded By Quaid E Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Pakistani Newspaper - ABC Certified)

[aurora-borealis-love]

Imran Khan now on the apartheid wall in Palestine...

[xtruss]

In this file photograph, taken on March 10, 2024, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party supporters hold portraits of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan, as they protest against the alleged skewing in Pakistan’s national election, in Peshawar. (AFP/File)

UK Parliamentarians Demand Release of Jailed Pakistan Ex-Premier Imran Khan

Khan has been in jail since August last year, even though all four convictions handed down to him ahead of an election in Feb have either been suspended or overturned

A UN panel of experts this month found that Khan’s detention ‘had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office’

— Arab News | July 24, 2024

Islamabad, Pakistan: A number of British Parliamentarians on Tuesday called for the release of former Pakistan premier Imran Khan, who has been in jail since August last year, Khan’s party said.

The UK parliament held a hearing on Tuesday that saw over a dozen parliamentarians listen to members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party speaking about his incarceration, deteriorating law and order as well as growing censorship in Pakistan.

The event, jointly hosted by Conservative Peer Lord Daniel Hannan and British-Pakistani Labour MP Naz Shah, was attended by former Tory home secretary Priti Patel, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Labour MP Naushaba Khan, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon and others.

The hearing resolved that the parliamentarians will call on British PM Keir Starmer and State Secretary David Lammy for the UK government to take note of a recent United Nations report into Khan’s incarceration and demand his release from prison, Khan’s PTI party said.

“As friends of Pakistan and friends of Pakistani democracy, we want to see that country prosper. We want to see the UN’s recommendations implemented, including an end to the detention of Imran Khan and a timetable for free and inclusive elections,” the PTI quoted Lord Hannan as saying.

“We will continue to press for democracy on a cross-party basis, and in both parliamentary chambers. And we will link up with parliamentarians in other friendly countries to make the case internationally.”

Khan has been in jail since August last year, even though all four convictions handed down to him ahead of a parliamentary election in February have either been suspended or overturned.

After being acquitted on the last of those four convictions, authorities rearrested Khan and his wife in an old corruption case on charges of selling state gifts unlawfully. He also faces an accusation of inciting his supporters to attack military installations in May last year. Khan denies all the accusations.

A UN panel of experts this month found that Khan’s detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office.”

During the event, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, a key Khan aide, and PTI member Meher Bano Qureshi apprised the UK parliamentarians of their concerns with regard to the situation in Pakistan.

“As somebody with a large Pakistani constituency and as an MP of Pakistani heritage, I want to see Pakistan succeed, particularly democracy in Pakistan, as well as freedom of the press, and justice,” MP Shah was quoted as saying.

“The UN report into the incarceration of Imran Khan should be of great concern to all of us. We cannot shy away from it and we must continue to work across parliament to ensure progress is made for Pakistan.”

The development followed fresh arrests of PTI members, including Information Secretary Raoof Hasan and senior media manager Ahmed Waqas Janjua.

Last week, Pakistan’s government announced it would move to ban the PTI for involvement in anti-government and anti-military riots last year, for leaking state secrets and for receiving illegal foreign funding. Khan and the PTI say all charges against them are motivated to keep them out of politics and dent their popularity.

Khan’s PTI party secured the largest number of seats in parliament in the February general election despite what it says is a military-backed crackdown that aims to keep him out of power. It also won nearly two dozen extra parliament seats after a court ruling last week.

Khan blames his 2022 ouster in a no-confidence vote on Pakistan’s powerful army generals after he fell out with them, a charge the army denies.

[astrosblogs]

"Release Imran Khan": Pakistan Supreme Court Calls Arrest "Illegal"

The Supreme Court, after hearing Imran Khan's request for relief, strongly criticised the NAB for arresting the former Prime Minister from the Islamabad High Court's premises, where he had come to appear in a case

New Delhi: Imran Khan’s arrest by Pakistan’s top anti-corruption body is illegal and he should be released immediately, the country’s Supreme Court said on Thursday amid violent protests by supporters of the former Prime Minister who faces corruption allegations. Mr Khan is under the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The order to bring Mr Khan, 70, to the Supreme Court was issued by a three-member bench of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah.

The Supreme Court, after hearing Mr Khan’s request for relief, strongly criticised the NAB for arresting the former Prime Minister from the Islamabad High Court’s premises, where he had come to appear in a case.

The Supreme Court said Mr Khan should return to the Islamabad High Court at 10 am today and follow whatever the high court decides. Only 10 of his supporters will be allowed to meet him, the Supreme Court said.

Mr Khan heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Chief Justice Bandial said a person cannot be arrested from the court premises without the permission of the registrar. “If an individual surrendered to the court, then what does arresting them mean?” the Chief Justice said, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

Mr Khan has alleged he was tortured in the NAB custody and was not allowed to even use the washroom. The former cricketing superstar, who remains popular in Pakistan, alleged he was given an injection to induce a slow heart attack.

Mr Khan’s arrest follows months of political crisis and came hours after the powerful military rebuked the former international cricketer for alleging that a senior officer had been involved in a plot to kill him.

Some protesters took out their wrath on the military, torching the residence of the corps commander in Lahore and laying siege at the entrance to the army’s general headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Pakistan politicians have frequently been arrested and jailed since the country’s founding in 1947, but few have so directly challenged a military that has staged at least three coups and had ruled for more than three decades.

[clearcatmoon]

Today is back day for pakistan 🇵🇰 🌑

# Release imran Khan

[vague-humanoid]

Israel Violates Lebanon Ceasefire Over 100 Times, Middle East Still at Breaking Point

Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, joins the show to break down the escalating tensions in the Middle East. From the resurgence of terrorist groups in Syria to the unraveling ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and the ongoing US-backed genocide in Gaza—Cafiero unpacks the latest developments and their far-reaching implications.

Belgian MP and Workers’ Party leader Peter Mertens joins the show to discuss his new book, Mutiny: How Our World is Tilting. Mertens analyzes the current global political moment—highlighting the decline of Western hegemony, China's rise as a superpower, and the growing influence of the Global South through alliances like BRICS—showing how these shifts are reshaping global power dynamics and opening new possibilities for the Left.

Dae-Han Song, with the International Strategy Center and a member of the No Cold War collective, explains South Korea’s escalating political crisis as President Yoon Suk Yeol faces growing calls for his resignation after declaring—and then rescinding—emergency martial law to target so-called “pro-North Korean forces.” Hong discusses the motives behind Yoon’s decree and how Korean people are rising up to fight for true democracy and sovereignty.

Alex Anfruns Millán, journalist and author of Niger: Another Coup D’État… or the Pan-African Revolution?, discusses the seismic shifts in the Sahel following the anti-colonial uprisings that swept the region. Millán explains how, one year after the popular uprising that ousted the French military, Niger and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) are forging a new path away from US-French control.

Professor Junaid S. Ahmad, Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Decolonization in Islamabad, discusses last week’s massive protests in Pakistan, where despite a total lockdown, hundreds of thousands of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters marched on the capital demanding the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Ahmad will discuss how despite extreme repression, Pakistanis continue to rally in defense of Khan and mobilize against the country’s US-backed authoritarian military regime.

[darkmaga-returns]

All in all, while it makes economic sense for them to do so, it’s not politically feasible at present.

The Pakistani Energy Minister was fact-checked last month here for claiming that his country’s stalled Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline with Russia might expand across South Asia. A few weeks later, Pakistan’s Minister of Maritime Affairs must also be fact-checked after making a similarly misleading statement about Russia, this time about it and the Central Asian Republics (CARs) allegedly preparing to rely more on Pakistani ports for foreign trade. This is wishful thinking at best for the reasons that’ll be explained.

For starters, it was already assessed in summer 2023 that “PAKAFUZ’s Connectivity Potential Is Totally Dependent On Troubled Pakistani-Taliban Ties”, which refers to the planned Pakistan-Afghanistan-Uzbekistan railway for connecting the CARs and eventually Russia with the Indian Ocean. For as logical as PAKAFUZ is, it’s hamstrung by rapidly worsening Pakistani-Taliban ties, especially over the past few months. Not even China has been able to de-escalate tensions between its two regional partners.

They’re quickly approaching the breaking point after Pakistan recently carried out airstrikes against what it claimed was a terrorist-designated TTP training camp in Afghanistan, which prompted the Taliban to retaliate with an alleged cross-border raid. To make matters even more complicated for Pakistan, its ties with the US might also soon worsen as suggested by the latest sanctions against its state agency involved in ballistic missile production and one of Trump’s aides demanding Imran Khan’s release from prison.

[mariacallous]

Ads containing abortion-related misinformation are allowed to run on Facebook and Instagram in countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while legitimate health care providers struggle to get theirs approved, new research has found.

The report, released today from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and MSI Reproductive Choices, an international reproductive health care provider, collected instances from across Vietnam, Nepal, Ghana, Mexico, Kenya, and Nigeria. Between 2019 and 2024 in Ghana and Mexico alone, researchers found 187 antiabortion ads on Meta’s platforms that were viewed up to 8.8 million times.

Many of these ads were placed by foreign antiabortion groups. Americans United for Life, a US-based nonprofit whose website claims that abortion pills are “unsafe and unjust,” and Tree of Life Ministries, an evangelical church now headquartered in Israel, were both linked to the ads. Researchers also found that ads placed by groups not “originating in the country where the ad was served were viewed up to 4.2 million times.”

In the report, researchers found that some of the ads linked out to websites like Americans United for Life, whose website describes abortion as a “business” that is “unsafe” for women. The abortion pill is widely considered safe and is less likely to cause death than both penicillin and Viagra. Other ads, like one run by the Mexican group Context.co, linked to a Substack dedicated to the topic that implied there is a secret global strategy to manipulate the Mexican populace and impose abortion on the country.

One ad identified in Mexico alleged that abortion services were “financed from abroad … to eliminate the Mexican population.” Another warned that women could suffer “severe complications” from using the abortion pill.

Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels told WIRED that the company allows “posts and ads promoting health care services, as well as discussion and debate around them,” but that content about reproductive health “must follow our rules,” including only allowing reproductive health advertisements to target people above the age of 18.

“This is money that Meta is taking to spread lies, conspiracy theories, and disinformation,” says Imran Khan, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

In these countries, where Meta often has partnerships with local telecom companies that allow users to access its platforms for free, Facebook is a key source of information. Some of these ads also ran on Instagram. “Anybody with a cell phone can access information. People use it to find services. When we ask clients, how did you hear about us? a lot of them will cite Facebook, because they live on Facebook. It's where they know to search for information,” says Whitney Chinogwenya, marketing manager at MSI Reproductive Choices. So when disinformation runs rampant on the platform, the impact can be widespread.

“Good health information saves lives. By actively aiding the spread of disinformation and suppressing good information,” Khan says, “[Meta is] literally putting lives at risk in those countries and showing that they treat foreign lives as substantially less important to them than American lives.”

Many of the countries impacted by this report also have high maternal mortality rates, making access to reproductive services particularly crucial. In Nepal, for instance, there are 239 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, as opposed to only 32 in the United States. In Ghana, it’s even higher: 319 deaths per 100,000 live births. This comes as the US continues to grapple with the implications of the 2022 Supreme Court decision that struck down Roe v. Wade. On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a milestone abortion case that will determine access to the abortion pill across the country. These laws and policies in the US are often fodder for those seeking to roll back abortion rights elsewhere in the world.

These findings are not the first instances of right-wing groups using social media to promote antiabortion messaging abroad. In 2022, the Spanish far-right group CitizenGo orchestrated a disinformation campaign on Twitter to rebrand a reproductive health bill focused on regulating surrogacy as an “abortion bill.” (The legislation did not address abortion.) A 2023 report from Amnesty International also cited social media as a key way that antiabortion groups disseminate their messaging and target reproductive-health workers.

The report also found that the problem extends beyond just abortion. In one instance, Meta removed one MSI Reproductive Choices ad for cervical cancer screenings in Nepal, saying it involved “sensitive information.” Another ad promoting breast cancer awareness in Ghana was also flagged, as was one in Kenya providing information on vasectomies.

After trying and failing to place ads on Meta’s platforms in Nepal and Vietnam, MSI’s local accounts were restricted from placing any further ads, forcing the organization to start new ones. “But of course, it doesn't have as much audience as we did on the original page,” Chinogwenya says.

Glenn Ellingson, a former Meta employee who worked on civic misinformation, tells WIRED that there are several factors that might lead to an ad being rejected from the platforms, including if it’s targeting a group considered “sensitive,” particularly in an automated system.

“When you’re operating at the scale Meta is at, there are always going to be errors,” he says, adding that greater investment in humans who could review and flag content would likely help the platform distinguish between content that violates its policies and content that doesn’t.

[collapsedsquid]

At least one police officer was killed and dozens of people injured in Pakistan as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces outside the capital Islamabad on Monday, officials and Khan's party said. Authorities have enforced a security lockdown for the last two days after Khan called for a march on parliament for a sit-in demonstration to demand his release, while highways into the city have been barricaded. One police officer was shot and killed, at least 119 others were injured, and 22 police vehicles were torched in clashes just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in the Punjab province, provincial police chief Usman Anwar said. Two officers were in critical condition, he said.

Get stormin that capital to free your imprisoned leader and correct the stolen election!

[beardedmrbean]

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani police Monday fired tear gas canisters at supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan to stop them from entering the capital, where they hoped to stage a sit-in to demand his release, officials said.

The firing of tear gas came shortly after demonstrators — who traveled 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the restive northwest — began arriving and gathering near Islamabad. They defied a lockdown, previous tear gas and widespread arrests despite a ban on rallies in the city.

The development came a day after the leadership of Khan’s party went ahead with the “long march” even as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived for a three-day visit. He was received at an airport near the capital by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday evening.

Authorities said at least one police officer was killed and several officers and demonstrators were injured in clashes. The marchers appeared determined to enter Islamabad, where the lockdown, which has been in place for two days, has disrupted daily life.

The government was in talks with Khan's party to avoid any further violence, officials said.

Khan, who has been in jail for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains popular. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated.

A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters was expected to enter the capital Monday night. Security officials say they expect between 9,000 and 11,000 demonstrators, while the PTI says the number will be much higher.

Video on social media showed Khan supporters donning gas masks and protective goggles.

Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible. Ambulances and cars were seen turning back from areas along the key Grand Trunk Road highway in Punjab province, where shipping containers were used to block roads.

Video circulating online showed some protesters operating heavy machinery to remove the containers.

“We are determined, and we will reach Islamabad, though police are using tear gas to stop our march,” PTI senior leader Kamran Bangash told The Associated Press. “We will overcome all hurdles one by one, and our supporters are removing shipping containers from roads."

Bangash also said Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was recently released on bail in a graft case, will lead the march along with Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party remains in power.

Earlier, almost 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Islamabad, Bibi, wearing a white head-to-toe burqa, addressed protesters while sitting in a truck, urging them to remain determined to achieve their goal and free Khan. She then chanted, “God is great” and left.

Khan’s main political opponent, Sharif, heads the current government.

Sharif’s spokesperson, Attaullah Tarar, said on Sunday that whenever any high-profile foreign delegation comes to Pakistan, the PTI “begins the politics of long marches and onslaught on Islamabad to harm the economy.”

Some economists say protests cause billions of rupees in damages to the country's fragile economy.

Protesters on Sunday night burned trees as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Khan supporters retaliated by using slingshots and pelting security personnel with rocks.

In a bid to foil the protest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services “in areas with security concerns,” which the PTI said affected its call on social media for a protest. On Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested.

Authorities say only courts can order the release of Khan, who was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He has been imprisoned since his first conviction in a graft case, in August 2023.

Khan has been sentenced in several cases. His convictions were later overturned on appeal but he cannot be freed due to other pending cases against him.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that Imran Khan.

Pakistan's former prime minister's arrest on Tuesday 8th May.

Was illegal.

His lawyers are arguing that it was unlawful.

The court are ordering his immediate release.

Though as of the writing of this post, Thursday 11th May 14:40 BST, Imran Khan has yet to be released.

It's believed approximately 10 people have being killed and 2,000 arrested from the protests.

-Information comes from BBC News.

[stele3]

[humanrightsupdates]

Urgent Action: MAN AT RISK OF PROTEST-RELATED EXECUTION (Pakistan: UA 63.23)

Take action now - write to the Pakistani authorities to demand the release of YouTuber Riaz Khan before 30 August 2023:

I write to you out of extreme concern about the fate and whereabouts of Imran Riaz Khan, a Pakistani YouTuber and TV anchor who has been forcibly disappeared. Imran was arrested and detained in Sialkot on May 11th, 2023. Imran was detained at the Sialkot International Airport by the Sialkot police and taken to the Sialkot Cantt police station at around midnight on May 11th, 2023. Only subsequently was a detention order issued claiming that Imran was inciting violence in the village of Dhana Wali, a claim his lawyer vehemently denies.

Authorities claim that Imran was released on May 12th, at 11.20pm however his family say they have not seen or heard from Imran since his arrest. Imran has been missing for over one month now in a suspected case of enforced disappearance by state authorities and his fate and whereabouts remain unknown. The police claim that Imran is no longer in their custody and it is distressing that the police have not been able to locate Imran despite court orders requiring the authorities to work together to ascertain his whereabouts.

In keeping with government’s international human rights obligations, I urge you to:

Ensure a prompt, and impartial, investigation into the fate and whereabouts of Imran Riaz Khan;

Should Imran Riaz Khan be in state custody, immediately release him, or if there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, promptly charge him with an internationally recognizable crime and produce him before a civilian court;

End the practice of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions, immediately and unconditionally disclose the fate and/or whereabouts of forcibly disappeared people to their families and immediately release forcibly disappeared people or promptly bring them before a judge in a civilian court of law to rule on the lawfulness of their arrest or detention and whether they should be released.

[10bmnews]

Court approves Imran’s petitions on telephonic contact with sons, medical examination

Image released by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) shows former prime minister Imran Khan during his virtual appearance in a Supreme Court case on May 16, 2024. — PTI ISLAMABAD: The court of Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjumand on Tuesday approved Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s petitions regarding his weekly telephone contact with his sons and his medical examination, and…

[moneymovespress]

Amisha Patel came out in support of Fawad Khan: Bolin- Discrimination in Art is not Indian culture; Imran Zahid also sought answers by filing RTI

3 hours ago Copy link Ever since the teaser of Fawad Khan and Vani Kapoor starrer film Abir Gulal was released, its release has been protesting in India. But in the meantime, the film has started getting support from the Bollywood industry. Actress Amisha Patel said that there is no discrimination in art on the basis of India’s cultural nationality. In a conversation with IANS, Amisha said, ‘I…

[hinahasan]

imran khan pti

must be released immediately…..is there any rule of law in pakistan? this is fascism of worst kind shame on you.