Pakistan: Jailed ex-PM Imran Khan refuses polygraph test over May 9 riots

Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has declined to take polygraph and voice matching tests in a Lahore police investigation into a dozen cases linked to the May 9 riots last year.

A 12-member forensic team reached Adiala Jail on Tuesday to conduct the polygraph test on the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician.

The May 9 riots in 2023 were triggered across the country after the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a 190-million-pound corruption case. He faces over 200 cases and has been in jail since August last year.

The Lahore police team, led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, arrived at the prison premises to conduct the tests, the Express Tribune reported.

They were accompanied by experts from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), the report said.

The PFSA experts were to perform polygraph, voice matching, and photogrammetry tests on the former prime minister.

Imran Khan refuses

The PTI founder answered the questions of the police for 15 minutes. However, Khan refused to undergo the polygraph test and other tests planned by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s team, the Nation newspaper reported.

Khan said he was under investigation by many institutions and he would give time to the police after the completion of his earlier inquiries, it said.

The police officials also questioned him about various aspects of the May 9 riots that targeted the Lahore corps commander’s residence, military installations and public properties, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Following their visit, the police team and PFSA experts briefed Lahore DIG Investigation Zeeshan Asghar on Khan’s lack of cooperation. The matter will be discussed in a meeting of senior police officers to devise a strategy for a follow-up visit in consultation with the prosecution department, the report said.

PTI's vandalism on May 9

During the May 9 protests, alleged PTI workers and supporters attacked and vandalised military installations including the General Headquarters as well as monuments.

After the unprecedented violence, authorities swung into action and initiated a massive crackdown against the PTI while also holding trials of over 100 PTI workers in military courts.

Civil and military authorities have been accusing Khan of planning the May 9 conspiracy ahead of his arrest, a claim vehemently rejected by him and his party.

Khan denied giving orders for vandalising state properties but did acknowledge that he had asked his party to stage a peaceful protest outside the GHQ in case of his arrest.

Khan in prison

Khan has been imprisoned at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for almost a year upon his conviction in three cases — the Toshakhana corruption case, the cipher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case -- in which his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also jailed.

Though the former-cricketer-turned-politician had secured bail or his conviction was set aside, he has not been released.

Khan was arrested on August 5 last year after his conviction in the first Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Since then, he has been kept in jail in various cases.

(With agency inputs)