ISLAMABAD  -  Aleema Khan, the sister of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, on Friday said that they would knock at the door of all the international institutions in connection with the dozens of cases against the PTI founder.

While talking to reporters outside the Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, Aleema said, “We have left with no option but to take the cases to the international level.”

“Pakistan is a signatory of the UN convention,” she said, adding that they would approach all the international institutions to raise the issue.

Slamming the incumbent government in the Centre, the PTI founder sister said: “[Even] His physician physical is not allowed to meet PTI founder. This is torture.” She also accused the jail authorities of causing trouble to Khan. “Jail gate opens at 7am and meeting takes place in the night too when they [government] wants to do something.”

Responding to a question, she said: “When the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case will go to the high court, then the entire world will know how big a joke it is.” Khan still stood by his words that he would face the cases, she said and hoped the PTI founder would be acquitted in all the cases by the courts.

Meanwhile, PTI Lawyer Shoaib Shaheen reiterated that the former ruling party’s demand about the judicial probe into events related to November 26.

“Imran Khan termed dialogue before November 26 a trap,” he said, quoting the PTI founder. Raising questions over the government’s sincerity in dialogue, the PTI lawyer said: “PTI’s negotiation committee was not allowed to meet Khan till today (Friday).”

“Today, Aleema Khan was also barred from entering the jail as she speaks,” he added. Khan was of the view that dialoged should be held with those who had “real powers”, the PTI lawyer added.

The two sides, after months of a political tug-of-war, have held two negotiation sessions on December 27, 2024 and on January 2, 2025. The ongoing negotiations between the PTI and the government are currently paused due to the unavailability of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in the country.

Spokesperson for the government’s coalition dialogue committee Senator Irfan Siddiqui said on Friday that the opposition’s demands remain overly personal and leader-centric, while the government aims to address Pakistan-specific challenges.

Talking to a private news channel, he said that the focus of the talks with PTI should be on democracy, economic stability, and electoral reforms.

“Key issues such as the framework for political protests, necessary electoral reforms, and ‘rules of the game’ must be agreed upon to steer the country out of its current political turmoil,” he stated.

To a question regarding the government’s committee deficient powers, he said, “The government committee, comprising members from all coalition partners, is fully empowered to carry forward negotiations within its mandate.”

To another question regarding the future of talks, he expressed optimism about the dialogue process and said, “The very act of sitting together for talks is a significant development. Regardless of the outcome, setting aside past grievances and maintaining this culture of dialogue is positive for Pakistan,” he said.