The arrest, which marks a dramatic escalation on Pakistan’s political scene, drew nationwide condemnation from supporters of the favored opposition chief and former cricket star turned Islamist politician.
Khan was dragged exterior the Islamabad High Court and pushed right into a police car by brokers from the National Accountability Bureau, in response to Fawad Chaudhry, a senior official with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf celebration.
Chaudhry denounced the arrest as “an abduction”. Pakistan’s impartial GEO TV broadcast pictures of the 72-year-old Khan being pulled by safety forces in direction of an armoured car, which took him away.
Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022. He has claimed his ouster was unlawful and a Western conspiracy and has campaigned towards the federal government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, demanding early elections.
After Khan was taken away, a scuffle broke out between Khan’s supporters and police exterior the courtroom. Chaudhry stated a few of Khan’s legal professionals and supporters have been injured within the scuffle, as have been a number of policemen. Khan’s celebration instantly complained to the Islamabad High Court, which requested a police report explaining the fees for Khan’s arrest.
Officials from the anti-corruption physique stated that Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau had issued arrest warrants for Khan final week in a separate graft case, for which he had not obtained bail — one thing that might defend him from arrest underneath the nation’s legal guidelines. The officers, who spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Khan could be introduced to seem earlier than an anti-graft tribunal in a while Tuesday.
Khan was later moved to the garrison metropolis of Rawalpindi, close to Islamabad, the place he was to be questioned on the workplaces of the National Accountability Bureau. He was additionally to bear a medical checkup, in response to process, police stated.
Khan had arrived in Islamabad earlier on Tuesday from the close by metropolis of Lahore, the place he resides, to face prices earlier than the Islamabad High Court in a number of graft instances. He has claimed that the instances, which embrace terrorism prices, are a plot by Sharif’s authorities to discredit him.
As the news of the arrest unfold, Khan’s supporters began gathering in Lahore, chanting anti-government slogans.
The arrest is “blatant interference in the judicial affairs by the powers-that-be,” Raoof Hasan, one other chief from Khan’s celebration, informed Al Jazeera English tv. “We are completely in the dark. He was virtually abducted from the court of law.”
The arrest got here hours after Khan issued a video message earlier than heading to Islamabad, saying he was “mentally prepared” for arrest — a sign he could have identified what awaited him within the capital.
Khan was wounded by a shooter throughout a rally final November — an assault which killed one among his supporters and wounded 13. He has insisted, with out providing any proof, that there’s a plot to kill him, and has alleged that the nation’s spy company was behind the conspiracy to assassinate him.
The gunman was instantly arrested, and police later launched a video of him in custody, allegedly saying he had acted alone.
On Monday, the navy in a strongly worded assertion criticised Khan of “fabricated and malicious allegations” of its involvement within the November capturing, saying they’re “extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable.”
Sharif, whose authorities is dealing with a spiralling economic system and is struggling to get well from final 12 months’s devastated flooding that killed lots of and triggered $US30 billion ($44.4 billion) in damages, slammed Khan for assailing the navy.
“Let this be abundantly clear that you, as former prime minister, currently on trial for corruption, are claiming legitimacy to overturn the legal and political system,” Prime Minister Sharif tweeted after Khan’s arrest.
Khan is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was arrested and hanged in 1979. The present prime minister’s brother, Nawaz Sharif, who additionally served as prime minister, was arrested on a number of events over corruption allegations.
In March, police stormed Khan’s Lahore residence, looking for to arrest him based mostly on a courtroom order in a special case. Dozens of individuals, together with policemen, have been injured in ensuing clashes. Khan was not arrested on the time and later obtained bail within the case.
Khan got here to energy in 2018 after successful parliamentary elections. His initially good relations with the nation’s navy soured step by step. The navy has straight dominated Pakistan for greater than half of the 75 years for the reason that nation gained independence from British colonial rule, and wields appreciable energy over civilian governments.
Source: www.9news.com.au
