PTI protests outside IHC as KP CM denied meeting with Imran for 5th time

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers protested outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after cases of the party’s founding chairman were not scheduled for hearing. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also joined them. 

The PTI assembly members also reached the protesters and raised slogans for the release of founding chairman Imran Khan and early fixation of his cases for hearing.

CM Afridi announced that he would file a contempt of court petition after being denied permission for the fifth time to meet Imran Khan, for which he completed biometric verification in the court.

Talking to the media, he said three judges had given the decision, but they were still not allowed to meet their leader. Later, the KP CM reached the office of the secretary to the chief justice of high court. CM Afridi said that all parliamentarians were waiting but their cases were not being fixed. “We want the reasons to come to light. The question is why justice is not being done. We will protest. Three judges have ruled that a meeting should be held, but a meeting with Imran Khan is still not being allowed,” he noted.

Replying to a question, he said that no one had seen the draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, adding that it was not known whether the government itself had reviewed it. He said he came to the Islamabad High Court because their cases were not being heard. The CM maintained the Constitution allowed peaceful protest and questioned whether the courts could tell who was pressurising them.

Earlier, CM Sohail Afridi was denied a meeting with PTI patron-in-chief Imran Khan in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, for the fifth time. “We were in the May 9 protest, but what happened later was wrong; all the sins of those who held press conferences were forgiven,” he added.

Speaking to the media outside the Adiala Jail, he said that after his nomination as the chief minister, federal ministers began holding press conferences. “They should apologise for the allegations made against me. My statement regarding the November 24 protest is from last year,” he noted.

He said that despite taking all legal measures, he was not being allowed to meet the PTI founder. He explained that he waited for the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court for 90 minutes in chambers but the meeting could not take place. “I hope the courts will do justice and we will be allowed to meet our leader,” he said.

He regretted that it was alleged his party believed in politics of unrest, whereas they had followed all constitutional and legal means so far. He charged it appeared some people were more powerful than institutions.