Two Imran Khan sisters released after 53 days in jail
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Al Jazeera
Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, sisters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, were released after 53 days in detention in Lahore. Their third sister, Aleema Khan, remains in custody, according to their lawyer and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi Khan, two sisters of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, were released on Thursday after 53 days in detention in a Lahore prison. Their lawyer Mudassar Umer confirmed their return home, while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan’s party, also announced their release, Al Jazeera reports.
A third sister, Aleema Khan, who was arrested on the same day as Uzma and Noreen, remains detained at Kot Lakhpat prison. Zulfiqar Bukhari, a PTI leader and close associate of Imran Khan, called for an end to what he described as selective detention measures and prosecutions against the former prime minister’s family.
Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi Khan had been placed in detention for 30 days a week before a march planned for 27 September by the PTI to demand Imran Khan’s release. The Pakistani government had justified their arrest on the grounds of a risk to public order ahead of the demonstration, which ultimately did not take place.
The release of the two sisters came a day after Imran Khan was hospitalised in Islamabad to receive medical treatment. The 74-year-old former prime minister has been detained since August 2023 after several convictions that his party considers politically motivated.
