No ‘deal’ behind verdict postponement in Pakistan land bribery case, Imran Khan’s party says

Update No ‘deal’ behind verdict postponement in Pakistan land bribery case, Imran Khan’s party says
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan (right) and his wife, Bushra Bibi, sign documents as he submits surety bond over his bails in different cases, at an office in Lahore, Pakistan, on July 17, 2023. (AP/File)
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Updated 13 January 2025
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No ‘deal’ behind verdict postponement in Pakistan land bribery case, Imran Khan’s party says

No ‘deal’ behind verdict postponement in Pakistan land bribery case, Imran Khan’s party says
  • Khan, wife Bushra are accused of receiving land worth millions of dollars as a bribe from real estate tycoon
  • Information minister accuses Khan of using delaying tactics in the case and not appearing for Monday’s verdict

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani accountability court on Monday postponed for a third time the announcement of a long-awaited verdict in a case in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan is accused of receiving land as a bribe by misusing his office during his premiership, with his party saying the deferral was not part of a “political deal.”
The announcement of the verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case has already been postponed twice before, drawing criticism from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The case involves a charitable trust set up by Khan and his third wife Bushra Khan in 2018 when he was still in office.
Pakistani authorities say the trust was a front for the couple to receive valuable land as a bribe from a real estate developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, who is one of Pakistan’s richest and most powerful businessmen. Hussain, like Khan and Bushra, denies any wrongdoing.
“The trial court has postponed the decision of Al-Qadir Trust Case for the third time,” Khan’s PTI party said in a message to reporters. “It’s now postponed till January 17th.”
The party called the postponement “unusual” and said it “just re-affirms perception that it’s all linked to timing of political developments.”
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the verdict in the case was expected on Monday, but Khan did not show up at the court, accusing the former premier of using “delaying tactics” in the case.

“You would remember a time, when it was said [by Khan] that ‘I am sick, there is an issue with my leg, I cannot come, I cannot appear [before the court],” Tarar said, referring to statements by Khan and his lawyers in corruption cases against him relating to a state repository.
“I believe the PTI founder has had a PhD on the tradition of using delaying tactics in court cases. The person who is clean, who knows he is innocent never seeks an extension in [hearing of a case], never changes his attorney, never changes the power of attorney.”
Senator Talal Chaudhry, member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, said the Al-Qadir Trust case was an “open-and-shut case” and there was no possibility of a deal in it.
“Whether the decision is made today or tomorrow, it is a clear verdict, [this is] an open-and-shut case,” he said. “This is about Pakistan and there is no possibility of a pardon.”
Khan’s party has previously said the delay in announcing the verdict raised questions on the merits of the trial.
“This is a nasty, baseless case,” Gohar Ali Khan, the chairman of the PTI and one of Khan’s lawyers, told reporters after Monday’s hearing. “If this was based on justice then Khan would have been honorably acquitted today definitely, but when decisions are based on political considerations or to put pressure, then everyone can see the writing on the wall.”
He said the postponement of the verdict had nothing to do with the PTI.
“We came prepared that the verdict would be released today but the judge has postponed it of his own accord … it is not the result of any deal,” Gohar added.
Authorities say the Al-Qadir Trust scheme originated with 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Hussain forfeited cash and assets to settle a British probe into whether they were proceeds of crime. Instead of putting it in Pakistan’s treasury, Khan’s government is accused of using the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal cases, says all charges against him are politically motivated and being backed by his political rivals led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s all-powerful military. Both deny the allegations.


After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections

After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections
Updated 7 sec ago
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After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections

After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections
  • Countrywide mobile network shutdown, delayed results led to allegations of manipulation in Feb. 8, 2024 election
  • Jamaat-e-Islami party to stage protest outside office of Election Commission of Pakistan in the port city of Karachi

ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Thursday announced a “Black Day” and protests on the one-year anniversary of last year’s Feb. 8 general elections that the party says were rigged.
The national polls were marred by a countrywide shutdown of cellphone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by opposition parties like jailed ex-premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the JI headed by Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman.
The caretaker government which oversaw the electoral exercise and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) deny the charges, saying mobile networks were shut down to maintain law and order. The US House of Representatives and several European countries have called on Islamabad to open a probe into the allegations, a move that Pakistan has thus far rejected.
“JI will observe Youm-e-Siyah [Black Day] on Feb. 8 over the stolen mandate and rigged elections last year,” Rehman said at a press conference in Karachi. “We have planned to stage a protest outside the ECP office in Karachi and will observe the Youm-e-Siyah throughout the country.”
The JI party did not win any National Assembly seats in the general elections but managed to clinch two provincial seats in the Sindh Assembly and one in the Balochistan Assembly. 
On Jan. 20, PTI founder Khan also called on his supporters nationwide to stage protests on Feb. 8 against the rigging of the polls. He directed Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the PTI is in power, to lead caravans from across the province for a public gathering in Peshawar, the provincial capital.
The PTI has also sought permission, yet to be granted by the local administration, to hold a political rally at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan monument on Feb. 8.
Khan’s PTI candidates contested the Feb. 8 elections as independents after the party was barred from the polls. They won the most seats but fell short of the majority needed to form a government, which was made by a smattering of rival political parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.


Pakistan begins burials for 13 migrants drowned off Africa

Pakistan begins burials for 13 migrants drowned off Africa
Updated 18 min 22 sec ago
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Pakistan begins burials for 13 migrants drowned off Africa

Pakistan begins burials for 13 migrants drowned off Africa
  • Each year thousands of Pakistanis pay large sums to traffickers to launch risky and illegal journeys to Europe
  • Pakistanis are frequently among those drowned on crammed migrant boats which sink on Mediterranean Sea

MIRZA VIRKAN: A Pakistani who drowned along with 12 compatriots when a boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized off northwest Africa was buried in his hometown on Thursday.
Each year thousands of Pakistanis pay large sums to traffickers to launch risky and illegal journeys to Europe, where they hope to find work and send funds to support families back home.

Family members and residents gather around the coffin of Arslan Khan, a victim of last month’s migrant boat capsizing off North Africa, during his funeral ceremony in Mirza Virkan village, in eastern Punjab province, on February 6, 2025. (AFP)

Pakistanis are frequently among those drowned on crammed boats which sink on the Mediterranean Sea separating North Africa from Europe — the world’s deadliest migrant route.
Islamabad’s foreign ministry this week said 13 of its citizens were among the dead recovered from a boat which went down in the Atlantic.

Adnan Khan, brother of Arslan Khan, a victim of last month’s migrant boat capsizing off North Africa, shows his photograph during funeral ceremony in Mirza Virkan village, in eastern Punjab province, on February 6, 2025. (AFP)

Around 80 passengers were aboard the vessel, which left Mauritania and sailed north toward Spain’s Canary Islands before it capsized near the Western Sahara port of Dakhla, the ministry said on January 16.
On Thursday the village of Mirza Virkan in eastern Punjab province buried Arslan Khan — one of four bodies from the shipwreck repatriated a day earlier.

Ramazan Khan (C), father of Arslan Khan, a victim of last month’s migrant boat capsizing off North Africa, breaks down during a funeral ceremony in Mirza Virkan village, in eastern Punjab province, on February 6, 2025. (AFP)

“We sent Arslan to build a better future, and the trafficker assured us that he would send him legally,” his 34-year-old brother Adnan Khan told AFP.
“We sold our property and animals for Arslan’s future, but the trafficker betrayed us — he sent back our brother’s dead body.”

Family members and residents offer prayers during a funeral ceremony of Arslan Khan, a victim of last month’s migrant boat capsizing off North Africa, in Mirza Virkan village, in eastern Punjab province, on February 6, 2025. (AFP)

Pakistan has one of the highest rates of emigration in the world, according to the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration.
Many migrants depart from Punjab and the northeastern region of Pakistan administered Kashmir because their communities have historic ties to the country’s diaspora in Europe.
An official from the Federal Investigation Agency, speaking anonymously to AFP in 2023, estimated Pakistanis attempt 40,000 illegal trips every year.
In June that year the Mediterranean witnessed one of its worst migrant shipwrecks when a rusty and overloaded trawler sank overnight.
It was carrying more than 750 people — up to 350 of them Pakistanis according to Islamabad — but only 82 bodies were ever recovered.


‘Unconstitutional’: Pakistan journalists union challenges contentious cybercrime law in Islamabad High Court

‘Unconstitutional’: Pakistan journalists union challenges contentious cybercrime law in Islamabad High Court
Updated 06 February 2025
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‘Unconstitutional’: Pakistan journalists union challenges contentious cybercrime law in Islamabad High Court

‘Unconstitutional’: Pakistan journalists union challenges contentious cybercrime law in Islamabad High Court
  • Bill creates four new government bodies to regulate online content and broadens the definition of online harm
  • Parliament adopted amendments last month in the context of what is widely seen as a digital crackdown

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) on Thursday challenged recent amendments to the country’s cybercrime law before the Islamabad High Court, urging it to strike them down for being “unconstitutional.”
The Pakistan Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, enacted on January 29, includes provisions making the dissemination of “fake or false” information a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison without clearly defining “fake or false” news. Stakeholders like journalists and digital rights experts say they were excluded from consultations on the bill, which prevented genuine public scrutiny of the new law.
The amendments to the Electronic Crimes Act create four new government bodies to regulate online content and broaden the definition of online harm. The government bodies are authorized to block and remove content based on ambiguous criteria that do not meet the standards of proportionality and necessity required under international human rights law, rights bodies like the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have said.
“[It is] prayed that a writ may be issued declaring that the PECA (Amendment) Act 2025 is unconstitutional, being violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, due process, fair trial and the concept of regulatory independence, as well as the doctrines of fairness, proportionality, reasonableness, and constitutional limitations or restrictions, hence void, non-est and liable to be struck down,” the PFUJ plea before the IHC reads.
The petition urged the court to “restrain and prevent” the government from using “coercive powers” granted under the PECA Act 2025 against journalists, listing the law, interior and information ministries along with the chief secretaries of all provinces and the Federal Investigation Agency as respondents in the petition.
One of the new regulatory bodies created under the law, the Social Media Protection Tribunal, comprises government-appointed members rather than independent members of the judiciary.
Another new body, the Social Media Protection and Regulation Authority, is authorized to order any social media company to remove or block content deemed to be “against the ideology of Pakistan,” be known to be “fake or false,” or to cast aspersions on various public officials. The authority can also require any social media company to register with it and impose any conditions it deems “appropriate” upon registration.
Parliament adopted the amendments last month in the context of what is widely seen as an escalating crackdown on digital speech in Pakistan, including frequently shutting down the Internet and throttling Internet networks. The social media platform X has already been banned since days after February general elections last year as allegations of rigging emerged online. There are regular reports of VPN restrictions, and the government is also moving to implement a national firewall, though it denies these moves are aimed at censorship.


Pakistani PM, son acquitted in long-running sugar mills corruption case

Pakistani PM, son acquitted in long-running sugar mills corruption case
Updated 06 February 2025
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Pakistani PM, son acquitted in long-running sugar mills corruption case

Pakistani PM, son acquitted in long-running sugar mills corruption case
  • Case involved allegations of the misuse of authority by Shehbaz Sharif when he was chief minister of Punjab provinces
  • Anti-graft authority had charged Sharif with using public funds to built a sludge carrier that would benefit a family-owned mill

ISLAMABAD: An anti-corruption court on Thursday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz on charges of using public funds to benefit Ramzan Sugar Mills, built by the premier’s father in 1992 and part of the Sharif Group of Companies.
The case, filed by the National Accountability Bureau on Feb. 18, 2019, involved allegations Sharif had used public funds to build a sludge carrier in Chiniot district in Punjab province to benefit Ramzan Sugar Mills, owned by his sons. Sharif was the chief minister of Punjab province at the time. NAB had alleged the project inflicted a loss of Rs213 million to the national exchequer.
“An Anti-Corruption Court Lahore has acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said on Thursday. “The verdict was announced by Judge of Anti-Corruption Court Sardar Iqbal Dogar in Lahore.”
Sharif and son Hamza were indicted in the case in 2019. They had pleaded during hearings since that the sludge carrier was not constructed only to cater to the family’s mill but to benefit the area.
“The acquittal came after the NAB informed the court that it had found no evidence of financial corruption or misuse of authority by Shehbaz and stated and stated that the allegations of misuse of authority and corruption against the former prime minister were not substantiated under the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999,” Pakistan’s top news channel, Geo News, reported.
“The premier and former chief minister, in the 2018 reference, was accused of causing massive financial loss to the national kitty by awarding the contract to a construction firm without a competitive bidding process.”
In Nov. 2023, Sharif and 10 others were acquitted by an accountability court in the Lahore in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference. 
Sharif, 73, is the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who spearheaded their Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party’s election campaign for the 2024 general election.
This is Sharif’s second term as prime minister. He first replaced cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan as prime minister after the latter’s ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022.
Sharif is best known for his direct, “can-do” administrative style, which was on display when, as chief minister of Punjab province, he worked closely with China on Beijing-funded projects after 2013. He also planned and executed a number of ambitious infrastructure mega-projects, including Pakistan’s first modern mass transport system in his hometown, the eastern city of Lahore.


Pakistan’s renovated Gaddafi Stadium to open tomorrow ahead of Champions Trophy 2025

Pakistan’s renovated Gaddafi Stadium to open tomorrow ahead of Champions Trophy 2025
Updated 13 min 6 sec ago
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Pakistan’s renovated Gaddafi Stadium to open tomorrow ahead of Champions Trophy 2025

Pakistan’s renovated Gaddafi Stadium to open tomorrow ahead of Champions Trophy 2025
  • Stadiums in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi upgraded for series that begins on Feb. 19
  • Eight-team tournament will be first global competition held in Pakistan in 28 years

KARACHI: Pakistan’s newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host a free opening ceremony on Feb. 7 featuring a fireworks display, light show and live performances ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Thursday.

The PCB has been renovating stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi for the tournament, which will take place later this month across the three venues alongside Dubai. This will be the first ICC tournament held in Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup.

According to the PCB, Gaddafi Stadium has been transformed into a world-class facility, featuring over 34,000 seats, brand-new scoreboards on two corners and state-of-the-art floodlights to ensure exceptional visibility for players and spectators after sunset.

“Famous singers Ali Zafar, Arif Lohar and Aima Baig will perform at the opening ceremony,” the PCB said in a statement. “A magnificent display of drums, fireworks and a light show will take place. The public will have free entry to the opening ceremony.”

The statement highlighted that the state-of-the-art stadium had been completed in a record time of only 117 days.

The PCB noted that all barriers in front of the seating enclosures have been removed and comfortable chairs installed. Additionally, new hospitality boxes with world-class facilities have been created for both cricket fans and players.

“First of all, I thank the workers who made the impossible possible,” PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi was quoted as saying. “Frontier Works Organization, NESPAK contractors and PCB teams turned the dream of stadium renovation into reality.”

Pakistani fans have long expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s stadiums, citing a lack of basic facilities and a subpar viewing experience for spectators. The PCB has also been renovating Karachi’s stadium.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be held from Feb. 19 to Mar. 9, with matches hosted across Pakistan and Dubai in a hybrid model. The tournament’s structure follows a compromise after India refused to play in Pakistan, citing “security concerns.”

Exercising its rights as the host nation, Pakistan designated Dubai as the neutral venue for India’s matches, ensuring the participation of all teams. The PCB has scheduled the Champions Trophy opening ceremony in Lahore on Feb. 16.

In Pakistan, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi will each host three group-stage games. Lahore is also set to host the second semifinal. Dubai will host all three of India’s group matches and the first semifinal, should India qualify.

The tournament opener on Feb. 19 will feature Pakistan taking on New Zealand in Karachi, while India will face Bangladesh in Dubai on Feb. 20.

This will be the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy after an eight-year hiatus. The last tournament took place in England in 2017. The event will feature the top eight teams in world cricket competing for one of the sport’s most prestigious titles.