PTI announces 'Imran Khan Release Force' to secure former PM's freedom

• Force to take oath after Eid ul Fitr, says KP CM Afridi.
• KP CM Afridi says tasked to lead “street movement”.
• Imran Khan has been behind bars since August 2023.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced the formation of “Imran Khan Release Force”, which will struggle to secure the former prime minister’s release from jail.

The cricketer-turned-politician, 73, has been in jail since August 2023, convicted in a string of cases that he claims were politically driven following his ouster in a 2022 parliamentary vote.

The PTI seems to have sped up its call to seek his release following the revelation, in a medical report submitted to the Supreme Court, that he only has 15% vision left in his right eye. The government, however, maintains that the ex-premier is getting the best treatment possible.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi recently told journalists that the PTI leadership and Imran’s personal doctors were satisfied with the treatment, but his sister, Aleema Khan, was politicising the issue.

In a press conference outside the Supreme Court today, Imran’s loyalist Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said that he had been assigned the responsibility of leading a "street movement" by the incarcerated PTI founder.

He alleged that court orders were being “thrown into the dustbin” and claimed that the PTI founding-chairman is still being denied access to his personal doctors.

Announcing the formation of "Imran Khan Release Force", the provincial chief executive said the force would be formally registered and would pursue a peaceful struggle. He added that members of the force would take an oath in Peshawar immediately after Eid ul Fitr.

The force, he further said, would have a clear chain of command and that the PTI founder would decide who would be given command responsibilities. He stressed that preparations would be completed before launching any struggle.

According to Afridi, the movement would be aimed at the supremacy of the Constitution, democracy and an independent media.