Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan arrested

FILE: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a press conference at Shaukat Khanum Hospital, in Lahore, Pakistan, November 4, 2022. [K.M. Chaudhry, AP Photo]

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday while appearing in a court in the country's capital Islamabad to face charges in several corruption cases. Security officers dragged Khan outside and pushed him into an armored car before taking him away.

The arrest, which marks a dramatic escalation in Pakistan's political scene, has drawn nationwide condemnation from supporters of the popular opposition leader and former cricket star turned Islamist politician.

Khan was dragged to the Islamabad High Court and pushed into a police vehicle by National Accountability Bureau officers, according to Fawad Chaudhry, a senior member of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Chaudhry denounced the arrest as “a kidnapping”. Independent Pakistani channel GEO TV broadcast footage of Khan, 72, being pulled by security forces into an armored vehicle, which took him away.

Khan was ousted in a vote of no confidence in April 2022. He claimed his ouster was illegal and constituted a Western conspiracy and campaigned against the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, demanding early elections.

After Khan's arrest, a fight broke out between Khan's supporters and the police outside the court. Chaudhry said some of Khan's lawyers and supporters were injured in the scuffle, as were several police officers. Khan's party immediately filed a complaint with the Islamabad High Court, which sought a police report explaining the charges against Khan.

Officials at the anti-graft body said Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau last week issued arrest warrants for Khan in another corruption case, for which he was denied bail – a move that would protect him from arrest under the laws of the land. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Khan would be arraigned before an anti-graft court later Tuesday.

Khan was then transferred to the garrison town of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, where he was to be interrogated at the offices of the National Accountability Bureau. He was also required to undergo a medical examination, as per procedure, police said.

Khan had arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday from the neighboring city of Lahore, where he resides, to face charges in the Islamabad High Court in several corruption cases. He claimed that these cases, which include accusations of terrorism, constitute a plot by Sharif's government to discredit him.

As news of the arrest spread, Khan's supporters began gathering in Lahore, chanting anti-government slogans.

The arrest constitutes “a blatant interference by the powers that be in judicial matters,” Raoof Hasan, another leader of Khan’s party, told English television Al Jazeera. “We're completely in the dark. He's basically been taken out of court.”

In the port city of Karachi, police used batons and fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Khan supporters who had blocked a key road. Police were also trying to disperse protesters in Lahore, who briefly blocked the city's main roads as they rallied, mostly peacefully, against Khan's arrest.

“Imran Khan was arrested because he was wanted in a corruption case,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told a news conference. He claimed Khan caused millions of dollars in losses to the country's treasury by illegally purchasing land from a business tycoon while he was in power.

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The arrest came hours after Khan released a video message before traveling to Islamabad, saying he was “mentally prepared” for his arrest – an indication that he may have known what awaited him in the capital.

Khan was wounded by a gunman at a rally last November – an attack that killed one of his supporters and injured 13 others. He insisted, without providing any evidence, that there was a plot to kill him, and alleged that the country's intelligence agency was behind the plot to assassinate him.

The shooter was immediately arrested and police later released video from his custody, allegedly saying he acted alone.

On Monday, the military in a strongly worded statement criticized “fabricated and malicious allegations” about its involvement in the November shooting, calling them “extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable.”

Sharif, whose government faces a spiraling economy and is struggling to recover from last year's devastating floods that killed hundreds and caused $30 billion in damage, criticized Khan for attacking the 'army.

“Let it be abundantly clear that you, as a former Prime Minister, currently on trial for corruption, claim the legitimacy to overthrow 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 current Prime Minister's brother, Nawaz Sharif, who also served as Prime Minister, has been arrested several times over allegations of corruption.

In March, police raided Khan's residence in Lahore, seeking to arrest him based on a court order in another case. Dozens of people, including police officers, were injured in the ensuing clashes. Khan was not arrested at the time and was later released on bail in the case.

Khan came to power in 2018 after winning the parliamentary elections. His initially good relations with the country's military gradually deteriorated. The military has directly ruled Pakistan for more than half of the 75 years since the country gained independence from British colonial rule, and exercises considerable power over civilian governments.

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