LONDON: Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been rocked by a fundraising scandal after the London-based PTI faction launched a £1 million legal campaign to raise funds.
However, the party’s legal team has distanced itself from the campaign, criticizing the UK group for siphoning off money from efforts to release the PTI chief.
A lawyer, Rashad Yaqoob, told JEE News on Friday that Khan had directed him to take his legal case globally through the Human Rights Legal Aid Foundation (HRLAF), which was set up on June 26, 2023. was gone, according to UK company records.
Interestingly, the human rights advocacy organization has no previous history. Following instructions from the PTI Chairman, Yaqoob was able to assemble a specialist team of UK lawyers to handle the legal proceedings, including Michael Mansfield, QC, Gareth Pearce and Ben Emerson QC.
The poster also featured pictures of Khan as a partner of the Pakistani legal team.
The UK team immediately appealed for donations and called on Khan’s supporters to donate generously to take his case to international courts. Vakil and his team also appeared for video interviews on pro-PTI channels where the appeal for donations was further enforced.
Within minutes of the UK legal team asking for donations, Khan’s lawyer in Pakistan issued a statement saying he had gone underground and that the PTI legal team had been infiltrated by spies and traitors. Also, others in the legal team condemned HRLAF and its members.
Sher Afzal Marwat, who is part of the HRLAF poster, wrote in a late night tweet: “The traitors of Imran Khan’s legal team and PTI core committee have put my life in danger. The presence of traitors in the core committee of PTI is beyond any doubt. He has leaked recordings of core committee meetings to opponents and even the media.
“Shockingly, the details/recordings of the legal team’s zoom meeting have been shared with outsiders, putting my life and freedom at serious risk. I have gone underground for the first time, and I want to know at any time. Can be caught by the designated team.Tell people in the party and record voice messages about my stalkers.
Yesterday, I went into hiding and I am not sure if I am safe or not but I have identified my stalkers and sent their names to a group of lawyers to prosecute if I go missing. go It is becoming increasingly difficult to trust people in the innermost circles of the party.
PTI chief’s legal assistant Naeem Haider Panjotha said that Khan had not given any instructions to his legal team to collect the money.
“Please note, no such instructions have been given by @ImranKhanPTI to any of his legal team. It is also clarified that no one has been authorized by Imran Khan to raise funds in this regard. It is therefore made clear that no one will give any funding for Imran Khan’s legal battles at national level or in international forums. So please refrain from it,” he said. Wrote on, formerly known as Twitter.
Talking to this reporter, Yaqub said that he also represented PTI’s Khadija Shah, Sanam Raja and Dr. Yasmeen Rashid.
However, PTI’s Zulfi Bukhari said that PTI has not entered into any agreement with the said organization.
“Let me make this very clear! Neither Imran Khan nor PTI has so far instructed or appointed any legal team. Neither has anyone from him or the party. There is no mandate. PTI has absolutely nothing to do with this organization or its associated fundraising,” he wrote on X.
Barrister Gauhar Khan said PTI’s legal team would send notices to those who tried to collect funds on behalf of the PTI chairman.
Since Khan’s dismissal, a number of legal and political appeals have been launched by social media broadcasters to raise funds for PTI and Khan-related issues.
Yaqoob was part of a four-member legal team of Pakistan’s former minister for privatization, Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan, and his family when they became embroiled in a long-running battle with Deutsche Bank over a property in a north London street known as Billionaires Row. were .
Senator Khan lost a complex legal battle involving at least £140 million and had his UK assets repossessed by Deutsche Bank.
