Islamabad: Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday appeared before a joint investigation team (JIT) of Islamabad Police for questioning in connection with a terrorism case registered against him for threatening police, judiciary and other state institutions during a rally in the capital last month. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief appeared before the JIT on the directives of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) after refusing to appear before it thrice.
He was given a questionnaire by the JIT. During a rally in Islamabad last month, 69-year-old Khan had threatened to file cases against top police officials, election commission and political opponents over the treatment meted out to his aide Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested on charges of sedition. He had also taken exception to Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry, who had approved Gill's two-day physical remand at the request of the Capital Territory Police, and said she should "prepare herself as action would be taken against her''.
Hours after the speech, Khan was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening police, judiciary and other state institutions at his rally. Khan was charged under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act for remarks against Chaudhry and officials of the Islamabad Police. The court last week extended his bail in the case until September 20 while asking him to appear before the JIT for investigation.
Speaking to media after arrival for the JIT, Khan said that the case was a joke. This is a joke in front of the entire world. Why? Because everyone knows me, there have been headlines across the world that an FIR (first information report) has been registered against Imran Khan on terrorism charges, he said. He accused the government of cracking down on the media as well as on the workers of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Khan also threatened the government to launch a protest with a sea of people. I was silent before because of the economic conditions, (then) the floods came. So we decided to protest peacefully, he said. But he said that his next move to launch a protest would be unbearable for the government, as he also accused that it was an imported government imposed through a conspiracy.
Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan. The cricketer-turned-politician, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament. (PTI)
