ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that proper legal procedures were being followed in processing each case pertaining to the party’s involvement in the May 9 riots in a stern rebuke to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) position on human rights abuses in the country.
In a tweet, he said that “in his interviews with international media outlets, Imran Niazi is openly and deliberately misinforming local and foreign audiences by glib talk laced with fake news and plain misrepresentation.”
In his interviews with international media outlets, Imran Niazi is openly and deliberately disinforming local & foreign audiences by glib talk laced with fake news & plain misrepresentation. His expedient description of the post-May 9 events as ‘human rights abuses’ & ‘stifling…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 5, 2023
“His expedient description of the post-May 9 events as human rights abuses and stifling of the right to political protest is not only misleading but aimed at manipulating and swaying opinion-makers outside the country.”
What his party did on May 9 was a brazen attack on the state of Pakistan, with malafide intent and sinister objectives, the PM said.
He added that no country in the world would tolerate such an attempt at destroying its integrity.
“I assure everyone that the culprits are being dealt with under the law and that I will ensure that no rights violations take place. Every case will be dealt with due process under the law,” he said.
PM Shehbaz said Pakistan fully respects and is committed to all its constitutional and international obligations on human rights.
The PM’s comments come after Imran Khan gave an interview to Reuters in which he said that he had “no doubt” he would be tried in a military court and thrown in jail.
“It is completely the establishment,” the former cricket hero told Reuters, when asked who was behind the crackdown. “Establishment obviously means the military establishment, because they are really now openly – I mean, it’s not even hidden now – they’re just out in the open.”
