ISLAMABAD (TIP): An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan granted bail september 17 to 10 lawmakers from jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, an AFP journalist witnessed. At least 30 people from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party — including the 10 MPs — were remanded in custody last Tuesday, two days after they led a major rally in the capital, Islamabad. The anti-terrorism court granted them bail of 30,000 rupees ($100).
PTI has faced a sweeping crackdown since Khan was jailed in August last year on a series of charges he says are politically motivated and designed to keep him from power.
The 10 MPs, some detained at their offices in the National Assembly, were charged under a new protest law and the anti-terrorism act.
They were accused of violating the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, passed just days before the rally was held, in a move rights groups say was an attempt to curb freedom of expression and peaceful protest.
PTI has sparred with the military since Khan was deposed two years ago.
The confrontation came to a head after the former cricket star’s first arrest on corruption charges in May 2023. His supporters waged days of sometimes violent protests and attacked military installations, sparking a sweeping crackdown on PTI led by the army-Pakistan’s most powerful institution.
But the clampdown failed to diminish Khan’s popularity and candidates backed by the former premier won the most seats in 2024 polls — marred by allegations of widespread rigging.
Khan rose to power in 2018 with the help of the military, analysts say, but was ousted in 2022 after reportedly falling out with the generals.
A United Nations panel of experts found this month that his detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office”.
A number of convictions against him have been overturned by the courts.
Several members of the PTI’s social media and press team were rounded up last month and accused of “anti-state propaganda”. (AFP)
Tag: Sotuth Aisa
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Pakistan court grants bail to 10 MPs linked to jailed ex-PM Imran Khan
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Casualties in Myanmar push Southeast Asia’s death toll from Typhoon Yagi past 500
BANGKOK (TIP): Floods and landslides in Myanmar triggered by last week’s Typhoon Yagi and seasonal monsoon rains have claimed at least 226 lives, with 77 people missing, state-run media reported september 17. The new figures push the total number of dead in Southeast Asia from the storm past 500.
The accounting of casualties has been slow, in part due to communication difficulties in the affected areas. Myanmar is wracked by a civil war that began in 2021 after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Independent analysts believe the ruling military controls much less than half of the country’s territory. Typhoon Yagi earlier hit Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, killing almost 300 people in Vietnam, 42 in Thailand and four in Laos, according to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance. It said 21 people were killed in the Philippines, with another 26 missing.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Monday that an estimated 6,31,000 people may have been affected by flooding across Myanmar. There were already 3.4 million displaced people in Myanmar at the beginning of September, according to the U.N. refugee agency, mostly because of war and unrest in recent years.
Heavy rains from the typhoon and the seasonal monsoon brought widespread flash floods to Myanmar, especially the central regions of Mandalay, Magway, Bago and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta; the eastern states Shan, Kayah, Kayin and Mon; and the country’s capital, Naypyitaw.
Some flooded areas have started to see water levels recede but others in the Shan and Kayah states remain critical. More than 1,60,000 houses have been damaged and 438 temporary relief camps have been opened for more than 160,000 flood victims, Myanma Alinn reported. The military government announced that nearly 240,000 people have been displaced.
Myanma Alinn said 117 government offices and buildings, 1,040 schools, 386 religious buildings, roads, bridges, power towers, and telecom towers were damaged by the floods in 56 townships. It also said nearly 130,000 animals were killed and more than 259,000 hectares (640,000 acres) of agricultural land were damaged by the floods.
The U.N.’s humanitarian affairs agency said food, drinking water, medicine, clothes, dignity kits, and shelters are urgent needs for the flood victims but alleviation efforts are hampered by blocked roads, damaged bridges and ongoing armed clashes.
Vice Senior Gen. Soe Win, the second-ranking member of Myanmar’s ruling military council, said the country had received relief aid from other countries, and some humanitarian assistance from the Association of Southeast Asia, will arrive soon.
Soe Win, speaking at a meeting of the National Disaster Management Committee on Monday, said that the extent of flooding in the capital was unprecedented, and cleaning and rehabilitation activities in the flooded areas began Thursday as the water level declined. (AP)