Former prime minister Imran Khan demands open court martial trial for Ex-ISI Chief Faiz Hameed. The ex-ISI chief was detained earlier this month over allegations related to a housing scheme scam.
Imran Khan claimed that Gen Faiz Hameed was being coerced into becoming an approver against him to facilitate his trial in a military court concerning the May 9 riots. Imran labeled the matter as an “internal issue of the army.”
“If Gen Faiz Hameed was the key figure in the May 9 conspiracy, then I urge the army chief, Gen Asim Munir, to conduct Gen Faiz Hameed’s trial in an open court,” Imran stated in a post on X, adding that an open trial would reveal the truth. However, he expressed skepticism that such a trial would occur, predicting that the decision would be made behind closed doors.
Imran Khan also asserted that all charges against him had “collapsed.” In a separate post, he claimed that the remaining cases against him had been dismissed, prompting authorities to push for his trial in military courts.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) took the unprecedented step on August 12, 2024 of announcing Gen Faiz Hameed’s arrest for allegedly violating the Army Act. The arrest, based on allegations from the owner of a private housing society, challenged the longstanding perception that intelligence chiefs were untouchable in Pakistan.
The ISPR referenced a Supreme Court directive from November 2023, which instructed Kanwar Moeez Khan, owner of Islamabad’s Top City housing society, to seek redress through the Ministry of Defence, as the basis for action against Gen Faiz Hameed.
In the following days, the ISPR disclosed that three other retired officers were also in military custody for actions deemed prejudicial to military discipline. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar hinted that further arrests related to Gen Faiz Hameed’s court-martial could follow.
