{"id":99580,"date":"2025-08-04T20:49:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=99580"},"modified":"2025-08-04T20:49:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:49:43","slug":"pakistans-anti-terror-court-jails-100-pti-leaders-amid-crackdown-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/pakistans-anti-terror-court-jails-100-pti-leaders-amid-crackdown-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan\u2019s Anti-Terror Court Jails 100+ PTI Leaders Amid Crackdown Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n

3-minute read
\n04 August 2025 | 11:15 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8Image: Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Pakistan\u2019s political landscape has been thrown into turmoil after an anti-terrorism court handed down prison sentences, some as long as 10 years to more than 100 senior members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including opposition leaders in both houses of parliament. Critics are calling the move a politically motivated crackdown ahead of planned pro-Imran Khan rallies.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Radio Islam International<\/em>,<\/a> political commentator Faisal Sherjan dismissed the convictions as \u201cjustice unserved,\u201d alleging they were based solely on the testimony of two policemen. \u201cNone,\u201d he said bluntly when asked if there was solid evidence. \u201cThese judgments have been handed down on the testimony of two policemen, one under a table and one hid behind a curtain\u2026 It is a complete fabrication.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherjan argued that the charges linked to an alleged conspiracy during Khan\u2019s abduction from the Islamabad High Court on 9 May 2023 were implausible. He noted that several convicted individuals \u201cweren\u2019t even in the same city\u201d as the meeting in question. The sweeping convictions, he warned, will disqualify many National Assembly and Senate members, further destabilising parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a continuous process of oppression,\u201d Sherjan said, adding that while senior figures may weather the storm, \u201cthe 100 workers\u2026 very poor people\u201d will see their families and livelihoods suffer. \u201cYou don\u2019t convict somebody for 10 years\u2019 rigorous imprisonment for a small infringement. These are not terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Far from dampening political activism, Sherjan claimed the verdicts have galvanised supporters. \u201cPeople are charged up. They\u2019re going to come out tomorrow,\u201d he said, predicting parliament may not survive the next six months. Citing Pakistan\u2019s constitution, he emphasised that sovereignty belongs to its people, who elect representatives to embody the state, a process now being \u201cundermined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the public profile of Imran Khan\u2019s sons in the UK, Qasim and Sulaiman, is drawing international attention. Though not involved in rallies, Sherjan described them as \u201ca very, very strong voice internationally,\u201d noting that their recent media appearances have pressured authorities to restore some of Khan\u2019s prison rights.<\/p>\n

With Khan in solitary confinement and supporters planning demonstrations on 5 and 14 August, the latter marking Pakistan\u2019s Independence Day. Sherjan believes the movement is far from over. \u201cPeople actually want independence from the oppression and injustice that\u2019s been there,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim<\/em> <\/a>with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Faisal Sherjan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 04 August 2025 | 11:15 CAT Pakistan\u2019s political landscape has been thrown into turmoil after an anti-terrorism court handed down prison sentences, some as long as 10 years to more than 100 senior members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including opposition leaders in both houses of parliament. Critics are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":99581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PTI-Getty-Images.jpg?fit=495%2C328&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pU8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 09:29:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}