Aware of the charges against Imran and wants a fair trial: UN

Web Desk (LTN NEWS): On Sunday, the former prime minister was arrested in a terrorism case for “threatening [ing]” a female judge and senior police officers at a public rally, which caused the federal government to react strongly.

In response to a question at a press briefing on Monday, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that Guterres was “aware” of the charges against Imran and stressed the “need for a competent, independent, and fair legal process.”

“The secretary-general calls for calm, for tensions to go down, and for everyone to respect the rule of law, human rights, and basic freedoms,” he said.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said that the US was also aware of the charges against Imran, but that it was up to the Pakistani legal and judicial system to handle the situation.

“It’s not a direct issue for the US,” Price said at a press briefing. “That’s because we don’t support one political candidate or party over any other political candidate or party.”

He insisted that the US supported the peaceful upholding of democratic, constitutional, and legal principles in Pakistan and everywhere else.

In his speech on Saturday night, Imran said, “We won’t spare you” and threatened to file charges against Islamabad’s inspector general of police and deputy inspector general of police.

He then told the judges that if they were “prejudiced” against his party, they should get ready for the consequences. He also told additional district and sessions, judge Zeba Chaudhry, that she would also be in trouble because she gave his assistant Shahbaz Gill a two-day physical remand at the request of the capital police.

After that, Imran was put in a terrorism case. He went to the Islamabad High Court on Monday to ask for bail, and the court gave the PTI chief protective bail for three days.

But the IHC was very upset by Imran’s comments about the female judge, so they started contempt of court proceedings against him and made a bigger bench to hear the case.

The IHC gave Imran a “show-cause” notice on Tuesday and asked him to come in as a private citizen on August 31.