New Delhi: In a major boost to Imran Khan, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the evening of Thursday, May 11, termed the former prime minister’s arrest by the anti-corruption agency “illegal” and ordered his release.
Earlier, the top court had directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) – which had arrested Khan for alleged corruption related to the educational trust Al Qadir – to produce the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chairman in court. The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial commented that the former prime minister’s arrest from the premises of the Islamabad high court was a “mighty disgrace to the country’s judicial establishment”.
According to Geo TV, CJP Bandial told Khan, “It is good seeing you” and asked him to “condemn” the violent protests that have rocked the country since the former prime minister’s arrest. Khan, through the media present in the courtroom, asked his supporters to “refrain from damaging public and private property”.
Khan’s release is likely to pause the saga of violence and crackdown by the government and military that has unfolded over the past two days.
Previous developments
Several top leaders of Imran Khan’s PTI were taken into custody Wednesday evening onwards, hours after the country’s military said it would take severe action against people who were targeting army and government properties.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was foreign minister when Khan was the prime minister, was among the leaders who were arrested. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police said on Thursday, May 11, Qureshi, the PTI vice-president, was arrested for “inciting arson and violent protests under a plan for threatening peace”.
According to the Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune, other PTI leaders who were arrested are Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Falknaz Chitrali, Musrat Jamsheed Cheema and Malika Bukhari. The police said the arrests met legal requirements and warned that “more arrests are expected”. “Avoid spreading rumours and incitement in public,” the capital police said, according to the newspaper.
According to reports, some PTI leaders sought refuge in court premises to avoid being arrested. But they eventually had to leave and were picked up by the police.
The arrests were made in connection with violent protests that have rocked Pakistan since Khan was arrested in a graft case on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the former prime minister was taken into custody in one graft case, while charges were formally framed against him in a second case.
The military’s media wing, Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR), reacted strongly on Wednesday to the destruction of military property. It said the “facilitators, planners and political activists” who were involved in the protest were identified and “strict action would be taken against them as per the law”.
Khan was ousted in April last year and has taken on the military establishment and the government ever since. He remains a popular figure and has mobilised people to pressure the government into holding early general elections.
Eight dead, hundred injured
The Punjab police said over 1,650 “miscreants” who were responsible for attacking public and private properties were arrested across the province. All suspects involved in violent activities are being traced and arrested, the Punjab province’s inspector general said in a statement. “Such miscreants deserve no mercy,” he added.
In total, around 1,900 people have been arrested across Pakistan. At least eight people were killed and as many as 290 were injured, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the PTI denied involvement in the violence and accused the ISPR of lacking the “realisation of the situation on the ground”. “We believe in achieving our goals by remaining peaceful, non-violent, and adhering to the Constitution and law. PTI has always discouraged deviance from the Constitution and law,” a statement released by the party said, according to Geo News.
The public reaction after the arrest of Imran Khan is connected to many factors, the party claimed, adding that “the extra-judicial actions and destruction of the economy” had also created bitterness.
Audio tapes allegedly involving senior PTI leaders were leaked on Wednesday, suggesting that they were instigating workers to attack the Lahore’s Corps Commander’s House.
PTI central Punjab president Yasmin Rashid was instructing workers to set the house on fire, the tapes suggest. Rashid, who is absconding, told Dawn that the clip was “doctored” and she never instructed anyone to torch the house.
Note: This is a developing story. Details will be added as they become available.