Sister of Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan arrested

Aleema Khanum, sister of imprisoned former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, was taken into custody by Lahore police on Sunday afternoon, according to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf officials, who labelled the move an "illegal detention". The arrest order, issued by Lahore’s commissioner, accused her of mobilising Khan’s supporters via social media and nationalist gatherings, and stated she would be held for thirty days. Police sources confirmed to the BBC that she would be transferred to Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. Earlier on the same day, Khanum’s family said they had experienced "no interaction oregon quality of her whereabouts". Her brother, Shahrez Khan, appealed on X, writing: "We request the authorities instantly disclose her whereabouts and guarantee her harmless return". Observers connected her detention to the nationwide protests planned for 27 September, when demonstrators intended to march toward Islamabad. The detention directive alleged that she was organising individuals to "create instrumentality and bid situations" and to engage in "raising/chanting objectionable slogans amongst the wide nationalist against the Government." In anticipation of the rally, authorities have lined Islamabad’s streets with shipping containers to shield government buildings. Interior ministry officials told local media that the demonstrations threaten national stability and that the state will employ all available means to prevent them. Imran Khan has remained incarcerated since 2023, when a court sentenced him to three years imprisonment for failing to disclose income derived from the sale of gifts received during his tenure. He confronts more than one hundred cases, ranging from allegations of leaking state secrets to accusations of selling state property, all of which he characterises as politically driven. Last year a land‑corruption trial resulted in a fourteen‑year sentence, the longest penalty he has incurred to date. While behind bars, his health has reportedly deteriorated; most recently he was taken to a hospital for a medical examination.