World News | Imran Khan Demands SC-led Commission to Probe Alleged Killings of Party Workers

Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has demanded the constitution of a Supreme Court-led judicial commission to probe alleged killings of his party workers by law enforcement officers' "direct firing" in Islamabad last week.

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Lahore, Dec 4 (PTI) Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has demanded the constitution of a Supreme Court-led judicial commission to probe alleged killings of his party workers by law enforcement officers' "direct firing" in Islamabad last week.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) launched a protest on November 24 after he issued a “final call”, demanding the restoration of his party's electoral mandate, the release of detained party members, and the reversal of the 26th Amendment, which he said had strengthened a “dictatorial regime”.

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His supporters were forcibly dispersed on the night of November 26 when they reached close to D-Chowk in Islamabad's Red Zone, where most government buildings are located.

In a post on X, Khan said he was informed about how "peaceful protesters were directly shot" and dozens of unarmed citizens who "spoke up for the Constitution and rule of law" were killed and hundreds were injured.

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"Details of 12 (PTI) martyrs have so far been revealed. This brutality marks one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan's history," said the post on Wednesday.

"I demand that the Supreme Court form an impartial judicial commission to investigate the massacre of unarmed, peaceful civilians and to give the harshest punishment to those who ordered the massacre and those involved in carrying it out," he said.

According to the post, the former premier made the remarks on Tuesday during an informal chat with media representatives and his lawyers.

The PTI claims that at least 12 party workers were killed and hundreds injured due to the direct firing by law enforcers in Islamabad during the protest.

The government, however, insists that no PTI worker was killed from bullet wounds.

The 72-year-old supreme leader of the PTI, who has been in jail in multiple cases since August 2023, said anyone who thinks people will remain silent is deluded.

"We will raise our voices against this atrocity on all international forums. I have directed the PTI leadership to file FIRs against those responsible, including Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi," Khan said.

"In which country of the world is such direct fire opened on democratic protests?" he questioned.

Khan further said that data about those killed and injured from hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi should be made public at the earliest, and CCTV footage from all hospitals and Safe City should be preserved so that evidence cannot be erased like it was on May 9 (2023).

"As far as whether the operation was a success or a failure, armed operations are always successful. The Lal Masjid operation was also successful, Yahya Khan also led a successful operation, but a month later the country was divided into two. The bloodbath that took place in Islamabad will have a long-lasting effect," Khan said, referring to the bloody military crackdown on the Red Mosque in 2007 ordered by Pakistan's former dictator General Pervez Musharraf.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also tried to clarify the government's position that no one was killed in the Islamabad protest by gunshot. Dar held a meeting of ambassadors in Islamabad and tried to convince them that no PTI worker was killed by the armed forces firing.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

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