Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday categorically rejected the reports that the government made any offer to transfer former prime minister Imran Khan to his Banigala residence or place him under house arrest. “No such proposal has been made, nor is there any pressure for his release,” Asif stated while speaking at an event in Sialkot, about 240 km southeast of Islamabad.
His remarks came after Khan’s sister Aleema Khan said during the week that her brother and founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was offered a deal of transfer to Banigala from Adiala Jail.
Khan, 72, has been lodged at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since mid-2023 in multiple cases; convicted in some and running trial in others.
Asif said that the issue of Khan’s detention was related to the judiciary and only the relevant courts can decide about his release or house arrest. “These claims are entirely unfounded and are part of PTI’s ongoing attempts to mislead the public,” he said.
He also accused the PTI of fabricating stories to get political mileage.
“Imran Khan’s future will be decided by the courts, not by the government. I have no connection with the judiciary and am certainly not a fortune-teller to predict court outcomes,” Asif said. Although Khan has been in jail since August 2023, recently there has been an increase in frequency of reports about a possible settlement between Khan and the government to end his detention. Meanwhile, the talks between the government and PTI could not resume as the two sides blamed each other for failing to meet the agreed obligations.
The PTI has been at loggerheads with the federal government since the general elections in February 2024.
The two sides held the second round of talks on January 2 to ease political tension and committed to meet again next week for the third round.