Ex-PM Imran Khan's Supporters Start March In Pakistan
Many of the demonstrators carried red and green flags of the opposition party, and a huge billboard affixed on the side of a truck read "release Imran Khan" and featured a picture of the beaming former prime minister with his hand held aloft.
Thousands of supporters of Imran Khan, Pakistan's jailed ex-prime minister, are marching to the capital Islamabad to demand his release. The march, which began in Lakki Marwat, a city 275km away from Islamabad, had paused for the night and was expected to resume on Monday. According to MyJoyOnline Ghana, Khan's family claims he has lost most of his vision in his right eye after prison authorities failed to take action.
Talks between Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the government failed two days ago, with PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja saying that reconciliation was not possible without including Khan in the dialogue process, as per Dawn. The PTI leader claimed that the government was not willing to pursue a collective strategy against terrorism and did not respect the recommendations of a jirga held by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.
Besides Khan's release, protesters are also demanding his transfer to a hospital and family visits, NPR reported. Khan, who faces charges in over 100 cases, was jailed for 17 years over corruption last year and has been imprisoned since August 2023. His wife, Bushra Bibi, was also jailed along with him last year.
Brief written by urgent.news from NPR, MyJoyOnline Ghana, Dawn, Dawn - Pakistan, Daily Times — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
