Imran Khan's supporters believe that the charges against their leader are malicious and that the judiciary will acquit him (Reuters)
Islamabad
- Many supporters of the Pakistani political leader Imran Khan, founder of the Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, who has been detained since last August, believe that he is on his way to freedom and will be acquitted of the charges against him and the sentences issued against him, pointing out that these are cases that were hatched against him to remove him from the political scene.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net to legal specialists, a number of them indicated that the rulings issued against Imran Khan are preliminary and subject to appeal, suggesting that his lawyer will be able to prove his innocence. However, the matter takes some time, especially since what stands against Imran Khan is the military establishment that has placed obstacles to keep him away from the political front.
During Al Jazeera Net's tour of the streets of the capital, Islamabad, and meeting with various classes of people, we came away with the impression that Imran Khan is very popular among people from different classes, to the point that observers describe him as a hero and an inspiration, and that he is innocent of the charges against him.
It was noteworthy that many activists in other parties sympathized with Imran Khan and believed that a great injustice had been committed against him by first arresting him and depriving him of running in the recent elections. To make matters worse, he placed obstacles in front of his party and its supporters during the electoral process, and despite all of this, Imran Khan’s supporters were able to achieve great success in it. .
Many observers and those interested in Pakistani affairs - who were interviewed by Al Jazeera Net - believe that the recent elections witnessed manipulation and fraud aimed at reducing the level of victory of Imran Khan’s supporters.
PTI supporters believe that they won two-thirds of the parliamentary seats in the elections by monitoring the vote counting, adding that fraud occurred in the last hours of the counting process, which led to the announcement of Imran Khan’s supporters winning more than 93 seats instead of about 170 seats (they believe they won) out of 266 seats. It was contested for the Federal Parliament.
What strengthened the hypothesis of fraud and manipulation of the results - as they say - was that during the elections and the counting of votes, mobile phone connections and Internet service were cut off, in addition to the delay in announcing the results for many hours.
The Pakistani judiciary had sentenced the founder of the Insaf Movement in three cases to 31 years in prison, days before the general elections.
Following these rulings, the Insaf Movement said that it would appeal the ruling issued by the court. Imran Khan's lawyer also confirmed that the rulings against his client were illegal and that he would appeal them.
Shoaib Shaheen while leading a protest against the election results in Islamabad (Al Jazeera)
Protests
It is noteworthy that the Pakistani judiciary had rejected Imran Khan’s candidacy for the recent elections, as well as dozens of his supporters who were detained due to their participation in protests that the country witnessed during the past year.
Shoaib Shaheen - one of the PTI's candidates for a seat in the Federal Parliament from Islamabad - says that Imran Khan is innocent and that the judiciary will prove this and thus he will be released from prison.
During a protest against the election results last Monday, Shaheen considered that there had been tampering with the counting processes, and that there was a conviction among many Pakistanis about that.
Ordinary citizens (including individuals belonging to other parties) during Al Jazeera's interview with them also expressed their conviction of Imran Khan's innocence, and that he will inevitably be released from prison.
Chaudhry: Imran Khan is widely viewed in Pakistan as a hero and an inspiring leader (Al Jazeera)
Political rivalry and malicious accusations
Legal expert and lawyer Arif Chaudhry said: Imran Khan will gain his freedom soon, and the cases filed against him are all malicious and out of political wrangling and preventing him from participating in the elections.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, the lawyer considered that, through his legal experience, which extends for about 42 years in addition to his political follow-up, his client will be released from prison and all cases will be acquitted of, indicating that Imran Khan’s main problem is with the military institution that has great influence, and in the end, when he seeks refuge. The Supreme Court will reveal the truth by acquitting his client.
When asked: Is his client popular with Pakistanis, Chaudhry confirmed that Imran Khan is widely viewed in Pakistan as a hero and an inspiring leader, noting that the recent elections proved his popularity, “as his supporters won about 170 seats in Parliament before the results were manipulated,” pointing out that The manipulation that occurred in this election was not witnessed in any previous election. He added that the vote received by Imran Khan's supporters indicates that people reject the charges against his client and do not acknowledge them, otherwise they would not have voted for him.
Regarding the reason for Imran Khan’s popularity, Chaudhry explained that he lived the pulse of the street and participated with them in solving their problems, adding that people felt his sincerity and sincerity towards them.
During the years he was in power, Imran Khan focused on building hospitals, schools and universities, and sought to improve the conditions of citizens suffering from difficult economic conditions, according to Chaudhry.
Iqbal: The authorities deliberately placed obstacles to prevent Imran Khan’s supporters from winning the elections (Al Jazeera)
Marred by forgery
For his part, Dr. Sajid Iqbal - Professor of Islamic and Civil Law at the University of Business Administration and Technology in Lahore - during our meeting with him in Islamabad - considered that the electoral process was marred by many manipulations, which led to incorrect results in many constituencies, pointing out the objection to dozens of results in Different regions of the country.
Although he belongs to the Jamaat-e-Islami (which is a political competitor to the PTI) and voted for its candidate in Lahore, Iqbal believes that the recent electoral process in which the authorities placed obstacles in the face of Imran Khan’s supporters so that they would not obtain good results in the elections, and despite that, they won the largest number of votes. number of votes compared to any party, adding that if the elections had been fair, they would have had much more votes than announced.
Regarding the charges against Imran Khan, Iqbal considered them malicious and political and had no legal dimension, suggesting that all charges would likely be dismissed when they are considered by the Supreme Court and that he would inevitably be released from prison.
Wadud: The army was always interfering in politics, which limited the level of democracy (Al Jazeera)
The army is behind Imran's accusation
As for the writer and political analyst Asima Wadud, she believes that the army has always interfered in politics, which has significantly limited the level of democracy and weakened government institutions.
She saw - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that despite the persistent attempts of the army and Imran’s opponents to cause the latter to lose the elections, his supporters won significantly, and achieved the highest vote among the competing parties, despite the fraud that took place.
She expressed her regret that instead of acknowledging the people's choice, the army pushed parties that were historically in conflict with each other to form a coalition government to prevent Imran Khan's supporters from forming the government.
She confirmed that the charges against Imran Khan are not credible, and that during the judicial procedures he will be acquitted and released from detention.
It was noteworthy - during the Al Jazeera Net interviews - the statement of the former Defense Minister, General Naeem Khaled Lodhi, who is a son of the military establishment, when she considered that the army was behind his ouster from power in 2022 and that it prevented him from returning in the last elections.
The retired general expressed his conviction that the charges brought against Imran Khan were all malicious and intended to distort his reputation and alienate people from him, but that had the opposite effect and his popularity increased, expecting that he would be acquitted and released from prison.
Lodhi said that - despite his knowledge that the military establishment did not want Imran to return to power - he voted for one of his supporters in the elections.
Source: Al Jazeera