Pakistan: Lahore Court rejects request to suspend detention orders against Imran Khan’s sisters
Islamabad, Sep 24 (IANS) The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday rejected a request to immediately suspend the detention orders issued for former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sisters – Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi.
During the hearing on Thursday, the lawyers appearing for Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi said that both women are “non-political” and have been detained despite having no justification for their detention. The lawyers said that Uzma Khan had already been acquitted in a case lodged against her. They requested the court to immediately suspend the detention orders issued against Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan, leading Pakistani daily Dawn reported.
The judge said that the court would seek a report from the relevant parties before announcing the decision on the request for suspension of detention orders. The court issued notices to the respondents and sought their response on the petition.
Lahore Deputy Commissioner (DC), Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), the Home Department Secretary, and the Kot Lakhpat jail superintendent have been named as respondents in the petition, Dawn reported.
The petition was filed in the court after police arrested Imran Khan’s three sisters – Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan following the Lahore Deputy Commissioner’s 30-day detention order under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.
The detention orders for Imran Khan’s sisters were issued ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) planned protest for September 27 to demand the release of party founder. Khan has remained in prison since August 2023 after convictions that his party, PTI, has termed politically motivated. Since his ouster from office in 2022 through a no-confidence vote, Imran Khan has faced several cases, including allegations involving state gifts and an unlawful marriage case.
Ahead of the PTI’s protest, the Punjab government has also imposed a 13-day ban on public gatherings across the province, closing roads and businesses in and around Attock and Rawalpindi and deploying Rangers paramilitary forces in four districts of the province.
According to the notification issued by the Punjab government, gatherings, processions and assemblies of five or more people have been prohibited at public places, roads and open spaces in Punjab for 13 days. The notification said it bans carrying and displaying weapons and encouraging or inciting people to participate in unlawful gatherings in Punjab province, Pakistan’s ‘Express Tribune’ newspaper reported.
The order excludes weddings, funeral prayers, burials, and gatherings at mosques and other places of worship. The notification said that law enforcement and intelligence agencies had received information regarding an imminent security threat, with militant groups planning to carry out attacks on public gatherings.
On Monday, Imran Khan’s son, Kasim Khan, condemned the detention of his aunts – Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, terming it as a “criminal behaviour” and urged the international community to act on the matter.
In a post on X, Kasim Khan stated, “This is a disgrace. Now my Aunts Dr. Uzma and Noreen, along with my cousins Shershah and Shahrez have now been abducted as well. They have broken into my aunties and cousins houses and forced them into vehicles with no explanation. No reasons for arrest have been stated.
“No news has been released as to where they have been taken. This is criminal behaviour. Inexcusable. The Pakistani people are petrified of their own leaders. No upstanding nation should tolerate this criminal establishment. Intervention is now imperative. The world MUST take action,” he added.
–IANS
akl/as
