Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said PTI Chairman Imran Khan will be tried in a military court for the events of May 9, a private TV channel reported. “Imran Khan made a programme to target military installations and ensured its implementation so according to my understanding, it is a case of the military court,” the minister said in an interview with a private TV channel. “Why shouldn’t he [be tried in military court]? The programme he made to target military installations and how he had it executed, this is absolutely a case for the military courts,” he added. “It is all documented. The proof is in his tweets and messages,” he said.
The minister claimed that the PTI chief personally orchestrated the attacks. “PTI activists chanted the slogan that ‘Imran is our red line’, and the entire plot was prepared on Imran Khan’s initiative and instigation. He carried it all out. He is the architect of this chaos,” he said, adding that there was evidence present to back the accusation as well.
When asked how Imran was able to communicate with his party leaders even from jail, the interior minister replied: “All this [planning] was decided before he went [to jail] that ‘who will do what and where. And when he is arrested, what would be the strategy and duties’. All of this was decided.”
Addressing the issue of those involved in the attack, the interior minister claimed that there would be no leniency for those who launched the assaults on military installations, regardless of their current status with the PTI. However, he said that other leaders who have disassociated themselves from the PTI and condemned the attacks may be given some respite. During his interview, Sanaullah pointed out two categories of people involved in the attacks: those who were motivators and others who were the executors. “PTI chief Imran Khan is among the motivators,” he said, calling him the instigator or the arson attacks.
Sanaullah also implicated the former premier’s spouse, Bushra Khan, as one of the motivators.
Concerning the treatment of PTI’s women leaders in prison, he ensured that they would not be subjected to ill-treatment. The interior minister also touched upon the possibility of Imran Khan’s arrest prior to elections in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case and the May 9 attacks. If convicted after arrest, the PTI chief could face disqualification, he said.
In response to a question about what measures the government took to prevent the attacks, Sanaullah asserted that law enforcers would have been successful if the state had employed full force. However, he claimed that the government did not sanction this due to the risk of bloodshed and the subsequent potential political leverage it could provide to Imran Khan.
Regarding the military trials, Sanaullah indicated that the trials would follow a comprehensive investigation into the roles of the accused in the attacks. Alarmingly, he noted, some individuals had even stolen sensitive documents from the Corps Commander’s House.
As yet, no decision had been made about indicting PTI leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Sanaullah said.
Finally, he concluded that the military would make the final decision on putting Khan under military trial. Khan is considered the main instigator, with a team being formed to try him in seven cases. He also said that the PML-N would seek a review on Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification as the party chief.
