The Punjab government in Pakistan has extended the detention of Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, the three sisters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, by another 30 days, a government lawyer told the Lahore High Court on Monday.

Source: The News International, Oct 26

The lawyer submitted a report prepared by the Punjab home secretary in connection with a petition seeking the sisters' release. The petition was filed on October 20 by Shahrez Khan, Aleema Khan's son, challenging the detentions. The home secretary and the superintendent of Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail appeared before the court in person, and the court disposed of the petition after taking the home secretary's report on record, other Pakistani outlets reported.

Source: Daily Islamabad Today, Oct 26

30 daysLength of the new detention extension for all three sisters, the government lawyer told the court
Sept 20-21Dates Aleema Khan (Sept 20) and Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi (Sept 21) were first detained under the MPO

Detained ahead of a planned PTI protest

Aleema Khan was detained in Lahore on September 20 under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, and shifted to Kot Lakhpat jail, The News reported. Her sisters were detained a day later, also under the MPO, following a recommendation from the police. The detentions came ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's planned nationwide protest, including a long march on Islamabad on September 27, to demand Imran Khan's release and the supremacy of the Constitution.

At an earlier hearing, the petitioner's counsel told the court that the original detention orders for all three sisters had expired on October 19 and 20, yet the women remained in custody. The government lawyer said the Lahore deputy commissioner had sent a proposal recommending a further extension and the provincial government had approved it. Pakhtun Digital reported the government counsel as saying the extension was granted on October 7.

Source: Pakhtun Digital, Oct 26

PTI leaders criticised the Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, over the extension, questioning the need to hold the sisters when, they said, the women were not wanted in any criminal case, The Asian Observer reported. Imran Khan, 74, has been in jail since August 2023 and faces multiple cases, which he and his party have described as politically motivated, the same report said.

Source: The Asian Observer, Oct 26