The sister of Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been arrested ahead of next week’s protests held in his support, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has said. Aleema Khanum was detained in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday afternoon, PTI officials said, calling it an “illegal detention”. Her son is demanding her return. The order for Khanum’s arrest, which came from Lahore’s deputy commissioner, alleged that she was mobilising Imran Khan’s supporters “through social media and public meetings”.
It added that she will be detained for 30 days. Khanum is a vocal critic of her brother’s detention, regularly speaking to his supporters and the media. A police official confirmed Khanum’s arrest to the BBC. According to the order, she will be taken to Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
Earlier in the day, her family said they had had “no contact or news of her whereabouts”. “We demand the government immediately disclose her whereabouts and ensure her safe return,” Khanum’s son Shahrez Khan wrote on X. Many have linked her arrest to the protests that have been organised across the country on 27 September, when demonstrators plan to march to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The arrest order said Khanum had been mobilising people to “create law and order situations” and “raising/chanting objectionable slogans amongst the general public against the Government.” Streets in Islamabad are already lined with shipping containers, ready to safeguard the city’s government buildings.
Local media has reported Pakistan’s interior minister as saying that the protests harm the country and that the government will do everything they can to stop them. Khan has been detained since 2023, when he was sentenced to three years in prison for not declaring money earned from selling gifts he had received while in office. He has faced charges in over 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts – all of which he has decried as politically motivated. Last year, the cricket star-turned-politician was jailed for 14 years in a land corruption case – the longest sentence he has received.
While in prison, his health has being deteriorating, and last month Khan had to visit a hospital for an examination. Ex-cricket captains urge ‘proper medical care’ for Imran Khan Imran Khan not the only one silenced as Pakistan military stifles dissent Imran Khan jailed for 14 years in corruption case
