Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Jan has claimed that the allegations against him are »politically motivated» to prevent him from contesting provincial elections in Punjab and Khyber.
»They are worried that if I manage to contest the elections, which are on April 30, they might lose,» Jan said in an interview with ‘Al Arabiya’.
He also explained that he does not intend to avoid the court hearings, and said that he did not attend the appointment first because of the injuries caused by his assassination attempt in November, and then because of threats to his security.
Last week a Pakistani court postponed a police operation to arrest Imran Jan on condition that he appear in court, amid clashes between his supporters and the country’s security forces, which lasted for more than 24 hours and left hundreds of protesters and police injured.
The entire country has been engulfed in intense protests to prevent the arrest of the former prime minister, who is charged with more than 80 counts of concealing details in his asset declarations about some of the gifts he received during his time as prime minister between 2018 and 2022, when he was removed through a no-confidence motion in Parliament. The legislation allows government officials to keep the gifts, as long as they pay the state a fraction of their value, previously appraised.
The no-confidence motion against Jan was passed after the Supreme Court overturned the then prime minister’s decision to dissolve Parliament and announce early elections following the refusal of the presidency of the legislative body to hold the vote in the first instance. In November, the former prime minister was shot and wounded after being shot during a protest against the new government.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
