Pakistan released two of former Prime Minister Imran Khan\u2019s sisters from Lahore\u2019s Kot Lakhpat Jail on November 12, 2026, after authorities withdrew their detention order. Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi left prison after weeks in custody. Their sister Aleema Khan remained detained.<\/p>\n
With Imran Khan\u2019s sisters released, two family members held ahead of a planned opposition march are free. Their lawyer, Rana Mudassar, told AFP, in reporting carried by Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha<\/a>, that the women left prison at 2pm local time after the government withdrew their joint detention order.<\/p>\n Dunya News reported<\/a>, citing jail authorities, that the prison administration received release orders before freeing Uzma and Noreen. Authorities had received no release orders for Aleema at the time of the report, so she remained in the prison.<\/p>\n Pakistani outlets and international news agencies reported the releases on November 12, 2026. The supplied Al Jazeera report<\/a> also concerned the two sisters leaving the Lahore prison while Aleema remained in custody, although that report could not be retrieved for independent verification.<\/p>\n The withdrawal ended Uzma and Noreen\u2019s preventive detention. The reports reviewed gave no release date for Aleema and announced no decision freeing Imran Khan. He remains imprisoned in a separate set of cases.<\/p>\n According to Dunya News, Aleema was taken into custody on September 20, 2026. Uzma and Noreen were detained on September 21, 2026. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party founded by Khan, was preparing for a protest march towards Islamabad to demand his release when the arrests took place.<\/p>\n Authorities held the women under Section 3 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960. The provision allows preventive detention when authorities consider someone a potential threat to public safety or public order.<\/p>\n Dunya News reported that the Lahore deputy commissioner\u2019s detention orders accused the two women of mobilising party workers and posing a potential threat to public order. These were allegations made by the authorities, not court findings that the women had committed the acts described in the orders.<\/p>\n The initial detention orders covered 30 days. The Punjab government later extended the women\u2019s detention beyond that period. Their family and lawyers challenged the decision to keep them in custody after the original orders expired.<\/p>\n The sisters\u2019 continued detention had reached the Lahore High Court before their release. The Express Tribune reported on October 26, 2026<\/a>, that the court disposed of a petition seeking their release after the Punjab government confirmed it had extended their detention by another 30 days.<\/p>\n The newspaper also reported that the court had previously summoned the Punjab home secretary and the superintendent of Kot Lakhpat Jail over the women\u2019s continued confinement after the initial orders expired. The withdrawal of the detention order on November 12 followed weeks of legal arguments over their confinement.<\/p>\n No signed withdrawal order was available in the material reviewed for this article. The account of how Uzma and Noreen\u2019s detention ended relies on statements from their lawyer, party representatives and jail authorities, as reported by the cited outlets<\/p>\nImran Khan\u2019s sisters released from Kot Lakhpat Jail<\/h2>\n
Detentions began before a planned march<\/h2>\n
The family challenged continued detention<\/h2>\n
Aleema remains in custody<\/h2>\n