Criminal charges for lawmakers who helped Capitol riot: Pelosi

Agencies

January 16, 2021

Washington, Jan 16: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, has suggested that any lawmaker found to have assisted in the January 6 storming of the Capitol in Washington D.C. should face criminal charges.

"We must trust each other, respect the people who sent us here. We must also have the truth, and that will be looked into," The Hill news website quoted Pelosi as saying to reporters on Friday in the Capitol.

"If, in fact, it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress, in terms of prosecution for that," she added.

Pelosi's remarks came as several Democrats have already expressed their suspicions that some Republican lawmakers might have helped the rioters ahead of the chaos.

On Wednesday, a group of Democrats wrote a letter to Capitol Police chief and the acting sergeants-at-arms in both chambers, urging probes into "suspicious behaviour and access" facilitated by some Republican lawmakers on January 5, the day before the attack on the Capitol, The Hill news website reported.

"Members of the group that attacked the Capitol seemed to have an unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex. The presence of these groups within the Capitol Complex was indeed suspicious.

"Given the events of January 6, the ties between these groups inside the Capitol Complex and the attacks on the Capitol need to be investigated," the letter read.

The attack on the Capitol building on January 6 which took place while Congress was in session considering the ratification of the electoral college votes electing Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as Vice President.

Earlier that day outside the Capitol, Trump addressed his supporters during which called for "patriots" to take a stand against the 2020 election results

Five people, including a police officer, were killed during the riots.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning about plans of armed protests from January 16 through January 20 at all the 50 state capitols, and from January 17 through January 20, the day of the inauguration, at the Capitol in Washington D.C.

At least 20,000 National Guard troops are expected to be deployed in Washington D.C.

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Pak jail authorities say Imran Khan is alive and healthy after ‘murder’ rumours spark panic

News Network

November 27,2025

Authorities at Pakistan’s high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Wednesday dismissed speculation about the condition of imprisoned former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, rejecting rumours that he had been moved out of the facility or was in danger. Officials said Khan was in “good health” and described the viral death claims as “baseless.”

“There is no truth to reports about his transfer from Adiala Jail,” the Rawalpindi prison administration said in a statement, according to Geo News. “He is fully healthy and receiving complete medical attention.”

Amid swirling rumours on social media, Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), urged the federal government to issue an official clarification and demanded that authorities allow his family to meet him immediately, Dawn reported.

The frenzy began after Khan’s three sisters called for an impartial probe into what they described as a “brutal” police assault on them and other PTI supporters outside Adiala Jail last week. Soon after, several social media handles circulated unverified claims alleging that Khan had been “killed” inside the prison.

The rumours intensified when a handle named “Afghanistan Times” claimed that “credible sources” had confirmed Khan’s “murder” and that his body had been moved out of the jail — allegations that have not been verified by any credible agency.

Imran Khan, PTI’s patron-in-chief, has been lodged in the Rawalpindi prison since August 2023 in multiple cases. For over a month, an undeclared restriction has prevented family members and senior PTI leaders from meeting him. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has reportedly been denied access despite making seven attempts.

In a letter to Punjab Police Chief Usman Anwar, Khan’s sisters — Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan, and Dr. Uzma Khan — said they were “peacefully protesting” outside the jail when police allegedly launched an unprovoked assault after streetlights were switched off.

“At 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown to the ground and dragged across the road,” Noreen Niazi said, alleging that other women present were also slapped and manhandled.

Adiala Jail officials reiterated that speculation over Imran Khan’s health was unfounded and insisted that his well-being was being ensured, Geo News reported.

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