Imran Khan's nephew Shahrez Khan gets bail in May 9 riots case

Lahore, Sep 3 (PTI) Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's nephew Shahrez Khan was granted bail on Wednesday in a case related to an attack on a senior military officer's house in Lahore during the May 9 riots.  An anti-terrorism court (ATC) Lahore granted bail to international athlete Shahrez in the May 9 case, his counsel Advocate Rana Mudassar confirmed.  Judge Manzer Ali Gill announced the verdict on Shahrez’s bail petition and ordered his release subject to paying a surety bond set at PKR 100,000, he said.  Imran Khan's other nephew Shershah's bail petition is still pending in the ATC.

Shershah has been in jail on judicial remand in the same case.  Both Shahrez and Shershah are sons of Imran Khan's sister Aleema Khan.  The Lahore police had arrested both brothers on August 21.  Shahrez's counsel had urged the court to discharge his client from the case as he was in Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on May 9, 2023.

His counsel had submitted photocopies of affidavits of seven people who either travelled with Shahrez or were residing at Chitral on May 9. “The only reason Shahrez has been arrested in a phony case is that he is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder’s nephew,” his counsel told the court.  Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan have expressed their concerns over the arrest of Imran Khan's nephews, terming it a “political witch-hunt”.

Aleema Khan has been openly criticising the military establishment.  Earlier, Aleema Khan told the media that Imran Khan asked his party members to hold Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir accountable if anything happens to him in jail.  The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases.

Shahrez graduated from Oxford University, and at present, he works as the regional head at Simba Global, a big linen supplier based in Australia and is also a triathlete.

Imran's other nephew, Hassan Niazi, has been convicted by a military court in a case related to the May 9, 2023, riots and sentenced to 10 years in prison.  Following the arrest of Khan in May 2023, military and state buildings were attacked by his supporters. Hundreds of PTI workers and some main leaders have been convicted for their offence. PTI MZ ZH ZH