PTI to launch nationwide protests from August 5 for Imran Khan's release

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PTI has announced nationwide protests from August 5 to demand Imran Khan's release. The campaign ties the agitation to three years of his imprisonment and fresh allegations of mistreatment.

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India Today World Desk

Lahore,UPDATED: Jul 16, 2026 15:54 IST

Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party on Thursday announced a countrywide protest from August 5, saying the campaign will begin on the day he completes three years in jail and continue until he is released.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said the protest movement would be held across the country. The 73-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician is being held in solitary confinement at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Khan was arrested on August 5, 2023, after an Islamabad trial court found him guilty of corrupt practices in the Tosha Khana, or national treasury, case. He was subsequently arrested and convicted in some other cases, leading to his continued incarceration.

"August 5 will mark the completion of three years of the PTI founder's imprisonment and rallies will be held across the country to mark the occasion," PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja told reporters outside the Adiala Jail. He also warned the government not to launch a crackdown on party workers.

"Imran Khan has been kept in solitary confinement for months. No one from his family or lawyers has been allowed to meet him since December last year. He is not given proper medical care nor is he getting justice from the courts. The oppression and injustice in the country must come to an end," Raja said. Every week, Khan's sisters, lawyers and some party workers gather outside the Adiala Jail to press the government to allow the family to meet him.

"Extreme brutality is being carried out here. Imran Khan is being denied meetings with his lawyers, while his sisters are also being barred from seeing him," Raja said as he sat surrounded by party workers outside the jail. Earlier, on June 14, Khan was taken to a hospital in Islamabad for treatment of his ailing right eye and was later shifted back to prison. On June 25, the PTI called for Khan's transfer to a hospital and demanded an immediate end to his solitary confinement.

In a statement issued then, the party said: "We demand restoration of former PM Imran Khan's right to hold weekly meetings with family members, lawyers and political associates." With protests set to begin on August 5, the PTI has said its campaign will continue until Khan is released.

With PTI Inputs

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India Today Web Desk

Published On:

Jul 16, 2026 15:54 IST

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