LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) issued notice to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the federal government on petition seeking action against Imran for allegedly holding hate speeches against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The judge sought reply from Imran till June 15.
According to Daily Times, Atif Sattar, a local resident filed this petition. Petitioner’s counsel submitted that Imran was making hate speeches and also demanding prime minister’s resignation, which was violation of the constitution.
He said asking the premier to step down was violation of articles 5, 7 and 90 of the constitution, pointing out that on August 13, 2014, a full bench of the court had already notified PTI against hate speeches when it collaborated with Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) for holding long march and sit-in at Islamabad.
He stated that in the recent past, when two offshore companies had been unearthed in the name of the premier, Imran demanded him to step down and alleged that he had lost his moral justification to stay in office.
Referring to a judgment in Benazir Bhutto case, the counsel said that the apex court had held, “Public order is an elemental need in any organized society, and no association can flourish in a state of disorder.”
Dogar said that it was self-evident from a cursory glance at the observation of the Supreme Court that anyone who causes clear danger, riot, disorder, interference with traffic upon the public streets, must be restrained and prevented from such activity and state has the power to prevent or punish.
He said that according to the constitution, it is duty of the government to declare that a political party had been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan.
Imran Khan to submit reply in court over ‘hate speeches’
Imran Khan to submit reply in court over ‘hate speeches’
Malaysia's jailed ex-PM Najib wins appeal to seek home detention for corruption sentence
In an application in April last year, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a pardons board meeting on Jan. 29 last year chaired by Sultan Abdullah that also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine. But the High Court tossed out his bid three months later.
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling on Monday, ordered the High Court to hear the merits of the case. The decision came after Najib’s lawyer produced a letter from a Pahang state palace official confirming that then-Sultan Abdullah had issued the addendum order.
“We are happy that finally Najib has got a win,” his lawyer Mohamad Shafee Abdullah said. “He is very happy and very relieved that finally they recognized some element of injustice that has been placed against him.”
The lawyer said Najib gave a thumbs-up in court when the ruling was read.
He said it was “criminal” for the government to conceal the addendum order. Shafee noted that a new High Court judge will now hear the case.
In his application, Najib accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 last year under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office a day later.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said he had no knowledge of such an order since he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Najib, 71, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end on Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry over the appearance that Najib was being given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
Najib is still fighting graft charges in the main trial linking him directly to the scandal.
Death toll from the German Christmas market attack rises to 6
- A woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday
- More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack
BERLIN: The death toll in the attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg last month has risen to six as a woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors in Naumburg said the 52-year-old woman died in a hospital, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have said that the others who died were four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, and a 9-year-old boy.
More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack.
Authorities have identified the suspect, who was arrested immediately after he drove a rented car through the crowded market early on a Friday evening, as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency.
They have said he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam, and on social media expressed support for the far-right.
Norway PM worried by Musk involvement in politics outside US
- The German government accused Musk of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election
- Musk spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected
OSLO: Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday that he found it worrying that billionaire Elon Musk was involving himself in the political issues of countries outside of the United States.
Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, last month endorsed a German anti-immigration, anti-Islamic political party ahead of that country’s national elections in February, and recently made remarks on British politics.
“I find it worrying that a man with enormous access to social media and huge economic resources involves himself so directly in the internal affairs of other countries,” Stoere told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
“This is not the way things should be between democracies and allies,” he added.
If Musk were to involve himself in Norwegian politics, the country’s politicians should collectively distance themselves from such efforts, Stoere said.
Musk, the world’s richest person, spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected and has been tasked by Trump to prune the federal budget as a special adviser.
The German government last week accused Musk, who owns social media platform X and is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election with a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Musk’s support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was a “logical and systematic” play by the billionaire for a weak Europe that will not be able to regulate as strongly.
Russia says captured key town in eastern Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian forces have captured the town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday, in a key advance after months of steady gains in the area.
Russian units “have fully liberated the town of Kurakhove — the biggest settlement in southwestern Donbas,” the ministry said on Telegram.
Canada PM Trudeau to announce resignation as early as Monday – reports
- Unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as PM until new leader is selected, says report
- Polls show Liberals will badly lose to the Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday, citing three sources.
The sources told the Globe and Mail that they don’t know definitely when Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but said they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday.
The Canadian prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new leader is selected, the report added.
Trudeau took over as Liberal leader in 2013 when the party was in deep trouble and had been reduced to third place in the House of Commons for the first time.
Trudeau’s departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.
His resignation is likely to spur fresh calls for a quick election to put in place a government able to deal with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump for the next four years.
The prime minister has discussed with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc whether he would be willing to step in as interim leader and prime minister, one source told the newspaper, adding that this would be unworkable if LeBlanc plans to run for the leadership.
