Imran appeals for ‘immediate’ talks; 33 rioters face army trials
EX-PM warns that country is heading towards destruction, says his party remains most popular; not all May 9 violence suspects will be tried in military courts: Sanaullah
Former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday appealed for immediate talks with state officials, as pressure increased on him amidst a crackdown on his top aides and supporters that has seen thousands arrested as well as many leaving his party.
“I would like to appeal for talks, because what is currently happening is not a solution,” Imran said in a live talk streamed on Youtube, warning that the country was headed towards anarchy.
The political unrest has worsened as Pakistan faces its worst economic crisis in decades. Inflation is at record highs.
Most of Imran Khan’s top aides were arrested a shortly ater his supporters stormed and set ablaze a number of military installations across the country. Many have been released and shortly ater announced their resignations from Khan’s party. Dozens of other mid-tier leaders have also let.
Imran said they were being made to resign under duress in a bid to weaken him and dismantle his party. He distanced his party from the atacks on military installations during the unrest that followed his arrest and reiterated a called for an investigation to determine who was involved.
Imran Khan’s party members have said they were leaving of their own free will. Many of them cited concerns for their family and health.
The former premier, however, struck a defiant tone, warning that his party’s popularity was only rising because of the crackdown and would still win an election whenever it was held. He said he only wanted to talk to take the country out of the current crisis.
A national election is scheduled to be held by November, and polls show Imran remains the country’s most popular leader. Imran had said earlier this week that he would set up a commitee to hold negotiations.
He says previous atempts to speak to the country’s powerful generals had gone unanswered. The civilian government, a coalition of his political rivals, has not indicated that it was willing to talk as the crackdown on his party continued.
The appeal for talks came as the pressure mounted on his party and supporters, 33 of whom been handed over to the army to face trial in military courts on charges of atacking armed forces’ installations, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Friday.
The 33 accused are among the thousands detained since Imran Khan’s May 9 arrest sparked violent protests across Pakistan.
“The accused who are being handed over to the military are those who trespassed and entered very sensitive defence installations,” Sanaullah told a press conference in Islamabad.
He said only those involved in breaching out-of-bounds areas would face trial under army laws, suggesting there would not be mass trials in military courts.
But in response to a question, he also suggested that Imran could also be tried in a military court, saying: “as far as my own assessment and the evidence we have... this man is the architect of all this mess and planning, so yes he comes under this category.”
Rights groups have raised concerns over military trials of civilians, saying they cannot ensure a fair trial. Such courts are closed to outsiders and the media.
The minister said ater a verdict from the military courts the accused would have a right to appeal to a high court and then the Supreme Court.
The government has been informed by an intelligence agency that what unfolded on May 9 and 10 was conceived and planned with the involvement of Imran Khan much before the actual day of the event, said a report.
It said that most of the PTI leaders were not aware of the alleged “plan,” which was kept secret and only a few trusted loyalists (named in the report) knew about it and were the conduit to pass Imran Khan’s instructions to party cadres.
A spokesperson Sadaqat Ali Abbasi denied that the May 9 atacks were pre-planned or there was any such instruction from Imran Khan. He said that being the key PTI leader of the Rawalpindi region, no such direction was ever passed to him and for the same reason he led a peaceful protest in front of the Rawalpindi Press Club at Liaquat Bagh.