Two Sisters of Jailed Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan Released as Government Withdraws Detention Order; Third Sister Remains in Prison
Two sisters of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan were released from prison on November 12. Their lawyer, Rana Mudassar, told AFP that Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khanum were released from Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore at 2:00 p.m. after the government withdrew their joint detention order, ahead of a scheduled hearing on the order. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party confirmed the release.
A third sister, Aleema Khan, remained in prison under a separate detention order, which lawyers are also seeking to have withdrawn. The three sisters were arrested in September and placed under 30-day detention orders, later extended, after protest calls by the PTI that the government condemned as illegal. The PTI said in a statement that the release did not erase the suffering inflicted on Khan's family.
Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been behind bars since August 2023 and faces scores of charges ranging from corruption to treason, which he and his legal team reject as politically motivated. In October, thousands protested in the PTI's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stronghold over his medical treatment and restricted access to him. Khan briefly left prison overnight from Wednesday to Thursday for an eye examination and treatment before being returned to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi; the Supreme Court ruled in August that he should be moved to a civilian hospital for treatment, but authorities returned him to prison after a short stay at a government-run hospital.
(Source: AFP)
Source: AFP
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Photo: 图：巴基斯坦前总理伊姆兰·汗资料图。照片：Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf，CC BY 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: File photo of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan. Photo by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
