Wasn't sure if Imran Khan would serve jail time with bravery: Hamid Mir

Prominent journalist Hamid Mir claimed on Monday that he was unsure whether the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, would be able to serve his time in jail.

Appearing on TV analyst Irshad Bhatti’s YouTube channel, Mir, while responding to the question of whether he had expected former premier Imran Khan to withstand imprisonment, said, “I was not sure whether Imran Khan would serve his time in jail bravely.”

“Contrary to my expectation, Imran Khan was offered compromises multiple times, but he did not compromise,” he added, noting that one should acknowledge that Khan has bravely endured imprisonment.

He also claimed that when Khan was sent to jail, he believed he would soon patch up with the establishment, given his good ties with intelligence agencies during his premiership.

To a question about many politicians losing their patience while remaining confined in jail, the journalist opined that President Asif Ali Zardari courageously served his time in jail, adding that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and senior politician Javed Hashmi had also spent their time in jail with patience.

Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) top brass Rana Sanaullah, while speaking to a private news outlet, had claimed, “One thing I must admit is that Khan is surviving in jail, which I did not expect from him.”

On August 5, 2023, Imran Khan was arrested from his residence in Zaman Park shortly after his conviction in the Tosha Khana case and has been in jail since then on multiple charges.

Currently, he is held in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail under high security and with B-class facilities due to his status as a former premier. Earlier, he had been held in Attock Jail.

The incarcerated Khan was recently convicted in the 190 million-pound case, commonly known as the Al Qadir Trust case.

Accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the verdict, sentencing 14 and seven years of imprisonment to Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, respectively.

The court also imposed fines on Imran and Bushra, amounting to Rs1 million and Rs500,000, respectively. Failure to pay the fines would result in an additional six months in jail for Imran and three months for Bushra, the verdict said.

The case alleges that Imran and Bushra obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalizing Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the United Kingdom (UK) during the previous PTI government.