By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan were preparing to take to the streets across the country on Wednesday, as his party marked three years since his imprisonment with a wave of protests it says will continue until his release.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has designated a rally in Peshawar as the centrepiece of its campaign, with smaller demonstrations planned in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. The party says the protests mark the beginning of a sustained movement, rather than a single day of action.
Sheikh Waqas Akram, PTI’s central information secretary, said the party had chosen to concentrate its resources on the Peshawar gathering while leaving regional and local organisations elsewhere to hold protests “at their convenience”. He pointed to what he described as an intensifying crackdown on party workers, particularly in Punjab, as the backdrop to Wednesday’s demonstrations.
“It cannot be ignored that raids and crackdowns have been launched against PTI workers in other provinces, particularly Punjab,” he said, adding that the protests would remain peaceful. “There is no space for violence in PTI.”
Akram said the party was hoping that voters who backed PTI in the February 2024 general election would turn out in solidarity with Khan, and appealed to the wider public to join what he called a “historic rally” in Peshawar. “We appeal to the entire nation to participate fully in the historic rally in Peshawar and in peaceful protests across the country, and to raise their voice for democracy, the Constitution, the rule of law, and the people’s right to rule,” he said.
The Peshawar rally, to be held near the Motorway, is expected to be addressed by the province’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, along with PTI’s provincial president, Junaid Akbar Khan, and other senior party figures. According to Ikram Khattana, PTI’s provincial deputy secretary for information, the rally is expected to set out the party’s next steps in its campaign for Mr Khan’s release.
Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, said the movement for her brother’s release had already begun, and said she hoped the chief minister would use Wednesday’s gathering to announce its next phase.
Family and lawyers turned away from jail
Khan and party lawyers travelled to Adiala Jail, where Imran Khan is being held, on Tuesday but were refused permission to see him, according to PTI’s focal person, Advocate Awais Younas Chaudhry. It is the latest in a series of denied visits that human rights groups say have cut Khan off from his family and legal team for extended periods.
In Karachi, PTI plans to hold a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club, though the party says it remains unclear whether the protest will proceed without disruption. Raja Azhar, PTI’s Karachi president, said the party had submitted a written application for permission weeks in advance, but had received neither approval nor rejection from the city administration — a silence he said had heightened fears that authorities might again block access to the venue or seal off surrounding roads.
The Rawalpindi district administration, meanwhile, has formally rejected PTI’s request to hold a public meeting at Liaquat Bagh, citing security concerns. Chaudhry Ameer Afzal, the party’s district president, said he had been told by the deputy commissioner that the local intelligence committee had withheld permission partly because Wednesday also marks Youm-i-Istehsal-i-Kashmir, the day Pakistan observes in protest at India’s revocation of Kashmir’s special status.
Despite the refusal, PTI said it would go ahead with demonstrations at Liaquat Bagh, Murree Road and other locations across Rawalpindi. “We will stage protest demonstrations at Liaquat Bagh, Murree Road and other parts of the garrison city to demand the release of Imran Khan,” Afzal said, adding that the party felt it had “no option but to take to the streets”. PTI has also alleged that police in the district arrested nine of its activists and workers in the days leading up to Wednesday’s protests.
Amnesty calls for release
The protests came as Amnesty International renewed its call for Khan’s release, timed to coincide with the completion of three full years in custody. He has been detained since 5 August 2023 and is currently serving a sentence at Adiala Jail over a corruption case involving gifts worth £190 million, while separately facing pending trials under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act linked to protests that took place on 9 May 2023.
Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s acting regional director for South Asia, said the authorities had “systematically denied” Khan a fair trial, and accused them of subjecting him to prolonged solitary confinement while restricting his access to medical treatment and family visits. She said he had not been permitted to see his family for more than eight months, and that his eyesight had reportedly deteriorated significantly during his detention.
Lassee added that both Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, had been denied regular access to legal counsel since December 2025. Amnesty called on the government to “unconditionally restore” the couple’s right to see their family and lawyers, to guarantee them adequate medical care, and to end what it described as their “unlawful” solitary confinement immediately.
The organisation also urged the authorities to allow the planned anniversary gatherings to proceed without the kind of crackdowns it says have repeatedly targeted PTI protesters. “Ahead of planned gatherings by Imran Khan’s family, party and supporters to mark the anniversary, the authorities must facilitate the right to peaceful protest and ensure there is no repeat of the unlawful and arbitrary crackdowns on protesters so frequently witnessed in the country and against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf,” it said.
Amnesty’s intervention follows similar concerns raised last week by Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. She said she was troubled by reports that Khan was being denied appropriate medical treatment for serious health issues, and called on Pakistani authorities to restore “humane conditions” and allow him to choose his own medical examinations and treatment.
Toshakhana conviction and eye treatment
Mr Khan and his wife remain held in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after being sentenced on 20 December 2025 to 17 years in prison in the so-called Toshakhana II case. The case centres on allegations that the couple unlawfully kept a Bulgari jewellery set gifted to Mr Khan by the Saudi crown prince during an official visit to Saudi Arabia while he was in office.
PTI has separately raised concerns over what it describes as a serious eye condition affecting Khan, accusing prison authorities and the government of obstructing his treatment. He was first taken to hospital for a minor eye procedure in late January. Days later, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said doctors at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) had examined Khan’s eyes and, after securing his written consent, carried out a roughly 20-minute procedure. PIMS later confirmed that he had been given an anti-VEGF intra-vitreal injection to treat a retinal vein occlusion in his right eye.
The party has previously written to leading international human rights bodies, including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists, alleging what it called “systematic and escalating violations” of Khan’s fundamental rights. The letter accused the state of “sustained breaches of constitutional guarantees, due process and international custodial standards”, and said the party was “gravely concerned” about the treatment of its founder.
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