JAKARTA - Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused his military and intelligence agencies of publicly trying to destroy his political party, saying he "does not hesitate" to be tried in military courts and thrown into prison.
Khan had previously signaled military involvement in a crackdown on his Pakistan party Tereek-e-Insaf (PTI). However, his comments in an interview at his home in Lahore on Saturday night were the most outspoken.
"Ini benar-benar kemampuan," kata mantan pahlawan cricket itu kepada Reuters seperti dikutip 5 Juni, ketika ditanya siapa yang berada di balik tindakan keras tersebut.
"Fightiness clearly means the establishment of the military, because they are now completely open - my point is, it's not even hidden now, they're open," he continued.
Meanwhile, the military, which has run the country directly or indirectly for 75 years of its history, rarely faces public challenges to power as Khan experienced, does not respond to requests for comment.
The year-long stalemate between Khan, Pakistan's most popular leader, with soldiers peaked as buildings and military property were looted last month, allegedly by supporters.
Political riots have increased uncertainty in the nation's 220 million nuclear-armed nation, which has also been hit by financial turmoil. Its USD 350 billion economy struggles to prevent defaults, control inflation records and confront falling currencies.
Khan called violent protests, which erupted after he was detained, a "fake flag operation" meant to target him.
Meanwhile, authorities have started the process of hearing dozens of people, including members of their party, who are suspected of being involved in protests in military courts - usually reserved for service members or categorized as enemies of the state.
"That's the only way they're going to put me in prison," Khan said, adding that the military wanted to stop him from returning to power in elections scheduled for November.
He said the approximately 150 criminal cases brought against him were unreasonable and would be rejected in any civil court.
"So their only hope, and because they are determined to get rid of me, I think they will, their entire military court play is to imprison me," Khan explained.
"I have absolutely no doubt that a military court was aimed at me," Khan, who was released on bail.
Separately, Amnesty International previously said Pakistani military courts had ignored legal proceedings, lack of transparency, coercion of recognition and execution after an unfair trial.
Not only that, Khan said the country's most powerful spy agency, the military's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), was deeply involved in the crackdown.
He said two senior members of his party were called up by the agency to hold talks.
"And when they went there, they just kept quiet and said 'You (will not) leave unless you are no longer part of PTI.'"
Khan said he had tried to contact the military to hold talks to find a way out of the current crisis. However, there was no response and he did not know why the military commander, General Asim Munir, was "hit" to rule it out.
Prior to becoming military commander in November 2022, Munir was the head of ISI - the position that was suddenly removed in 2019 when Khan became prime minister.
Khan himself was ousted from office in a parliamentary vote last year, which he said was regulated by top Pakistani generals. However, the military denies this.
No official reason was given for Munir's premature dismissal, but Khan admitted in an interview, for the first time, that he wanted Munir out of the role.
"I thought maybe he had a grudge because I asked him to resign" as head of ISI. I don't know," Khan said.
When asked why he asked Munir to resign, Khan said: "You know, I, as prime minister, feel how the intelligence agency was run... I have a problem with that," he said without elaborating.
Later, Munir was later elected the country's highest general by Khan's successor and his political rival, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
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"He shouldn't have had a problem with that now that he is the military commander," Khan said, referring to Munir's removal as head of ISI.
"So why does he keep that grudge?" he asked.
Khan said he was confused by his campaign against him.
"(I am) someone who has been known in the country for 50 years, who may have won all the awards in the country and perhaps the most famous Pakistani, and has suddenly been treated as a kind of alien, as an enemy of the country," he concluded.
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