Bushra | Pakistan

The PTI claimed on Saturday that the report by The Economist, widely circulated on social media, was nothing more than recycled propaganda masquerading as foreign commentary. The report covered PTI founder Imran Khan’s marriage to Bushra Bibi and her alleged role and extent of influence in his decision-making during his tenure as prime minister. Imran married Bushra in February 2018. An official response, issued by the party’s media wing, claimed that co-writer Bushra Taskeen was a known critic of PTI and the “so-called” analysis published in the report was to justify political victimisation and distract attention from real crises about human rights violations, economic collapse, constitutional violations and stolen elections. The party said it had the right to initiate legal action against all parties involved, including the writers and publication, if they fail to issue an immediate, full, and public apology. “We have seen this narrative play out before. Half-truths, innuendo, selective outrage, all package...

Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Tuesday filed an application in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for an early hearing of the plea for the suspension of their conviction in the £190m Al-Qadir Trust case, in which both of them face a 14-year and a seven-year prison term, respectively. Imran and Bushra were convicted on January 17 in the case which alleges that the couple obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd to legalise Rs50 billion identified and returned to the country by the United Kingdom during the previous PTI government. On January 27, the couple moved IHC against the decision, asking the court to set aside their conviction, emphasising that the ruling lacked credible evidence and suffered from procedural lapses. In an application filed on behalf of Imran, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, it was requested that an early hearing be fixed without any further delay, as it is a question of “liberty and freedom”. It was stated t...