Khan says party officials pressured to quit
The former Pakistani PM expressed the pressures being exerted on his PTI party as a top official recently resigned.
-
Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan (AFP)
Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan expressed Wednesday that top officials in his party were being coerced into quitting.
This comes as one former cabinet minister recently resigned.
Authorities have imprisoned hundreds of followers of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, according to rights monitors, since days of street rioting erupted following his brief incarceration in early May.
Read more: Pakistani police continue to crack down on, arrest PTI leaders
Party spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry, who served as communications minister in Khan's cabinet, resigned from the party, while general secretary and former finance minister Asad Umar indicated he would step down but continue to be with the PTI.
On Tuesday, Senior VP Shireen Mazari resigned.
In a Wednesday night video, Khan expressed that this was a crackdown he had not seen "in the history of Pakistan."
Khan detailed how those who state they are members of his party will face oppression and violence and be locked up.
"If you say the magic words, we are no longer in PTI" he continued," then you will be released."
The former PM disclosed that he did not know who to contact anymore since everyone was being thrown in jail. According to Amnesty International, "a pall of fear hangs over Khan's supporters following the arbitrary arrests of many opposition leaders" on Tuesday.
In a joint statement with other organizations, they stated, "Authorities must stop clamping down on the political opposition" accusing the government of employing vague anti-terrorism laws" to conduct their arrests.
Khan was granted bail in eight cases yesterday as he continues to warn of the possibility of the military rearresting him imminently.
Khan, who is accused of more than 100 offenses, was given bail by courts in Islamabad and Lahore in a number of cases till June 8., including allegations of terrorism and corruption.
The former Prime Minister traveled to Rawalpindi earlier yesterday to testify before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scandal [Al-Qadir Trust case].
