Pakistan releases two sisters of ex-PM Imran Khan from jail

Uzma and Noreen released from a Lahore jail but Aleema Khan still detained nearly two months after their arrest.⁠Uzma Khan and ⁠Noreen Niazi Khan, sisters ⁠of Pakistan’s jailed ‌former Prime Minister Imran Khan, have been ⁠released from ⁠prison, their lawyer and Khan’s political party said.“Dr Uzma Khan and Ms Noreen Niazi have been released. They have arrived home safely,” lawyer Mudassar Umer said in a post on X on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Could US midterms reshape Pakistan’s relationship with Washington?list 2 of 3Pakistan top court orders Imran Khan’s hospital transfer amid access battlelist 3 of 3Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan left with 15% vision in right eye, court toldend of listThe sisters were released from Kot Lakhpat maximum-security prison in Lahore, nearly two months after they were arrested. A third sister, Aleema Khan, who was detained the same day as Uzma and Noreen, remains in jail, Imran Khan party’s the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said.“Aleema Khan remains behind bars. The release of two sisters does not end the injustice or erase the suffering inflicted on Imran Khan’s family,” PTI leader and close Khan confidant Zulfiqar Bukhari told Al Jazeera.“The demand is clear: No selective relief, no intimidation, and no further persecution.”Uzma Khan’s son, Wali Khan, called for an explanation as to why his mother had been detained for ⁠53 days and then released, saying the decisions were ⁠not based in law. “Their jailing was arbitrary, and so is their release,” he said in a post on X.The sisters were arrested and placed under 30-day detention orders a week before a planned PTI protest march on September 27 to demand their brother’s release.Imran Khan, 74, has been jailed since August 2023 following a series of convictions his party calls politically motivated. All but one have since been suspended or overturned on appeal.Concerns over his health, in particular the condition of his right eye, which has required months of specialist treatment, have driven the PTI campaign to demand his release.His sisters’ release comes a day after Khan was taken to hospital in Islamabad, where ⁠he was given medical treatment.Pakistan’s government said it detained the sisters because they could have been a threat to ‌law and order ahead of the planned march on Islamabad, which ultimately did not go ahead.The federal government suspended the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, led by Khan’s party, that had been organising the demonstration.