Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is serving a sentence in Punjab province's Attock prison, will not strike a deal for his release with the country's present government, his lawyer has said.
According to his lawyer, Shoaib Shaheen, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief has categorically rejected the idea of having an agreement with the authorities to move abroad after getting himself freed from prison.
Shaheen, who met Khan in Attock jail on Saturday, informed the media that the opposition leader had stressed "he would never leave the country".
The lawyer said the rumours that Khan's might be released from jail after reaching a truce with the Islamic nation's Army and the civilian leadership were nothing but "baseless propaganda".
Furthermore, Khan in his message to the people of Pakistan, according to Shaheen, stressed that he would not be broken by the pressure tactics imposed against him by the authorities and was willing to stay in jail for a century in the interests of the nation's public.
Khan then raised his concerns over Pakistan's "deteriorating economic" condition.
Why Khan's Release From Prison is Important For PTI
The remarks from Khan's lawyer come just as the cricketer-turned-politician has escalated legal efforts to secure bail for his release from jail ahead of Pakistan's national elections.
His release is crucial if his political party is to stand any chance of performing well in the South Asian sovereign state's general election, given that he is the party's biggest crowd-puller and can convince fence-sitters to vote in favour of PTI candidates.
However, Khan's liberation seems a remote possibility at present, given that he's facing more than 180 cases in Pakistan, according to a statement from his counsel.