In the port city of Karachi, police fired tear gas at protesters supporting Imran Khan.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday in the country’s capital, Islamabad, as he was about to appear in court to answer bribery charges.
Security officials dragged Khan out of the courthouse and proceeded to transport him to the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
The dramatic arrest has heightened political tensions in Pakistan, and numerous demonstrations and riots in support of Khan have been seen in the country’s largest cities in the afternoon. In the port city of Karachi, for example, police fired tear gas at protesters supporting Khan.
According to the AP news agency, a leading figure in Khan’s party Fawad Chaudhry characterized the recent arrest as a “hijacking”.
Immediately after the arrest, a scuffle broke out at the courthouse as Khan’s supporters and the police clashed. According to Chaudhry, some of Khan’s lawyers as well as several policemen were injured in the skirmish.
No right to answer freely
In 2018, former cricket star Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. However, the period as the leader of a nuclear weapon and the second largest Muslim country in the world was short.
Khan resigned as prime minister in April 2022 after losing a vote of confidence in parliament shortly before the end of his five-year term.
Khan believes he was illegally ousted by a conspiracy backed by Western powers. He has been campaigning for his successor, the prime minister, for the last year Shahbaz Sharif demanding the organization of new elections soon.
Khan is currently the subject of numerous corruption investigations.
According to Pakistani authorities, Khan has now been arrested as a new bribery investigation has been launched against him.
In this investigation, Khan would not be eligible to be released on bail – unlike the case he was awaiting hearing at the courthouse today.
Sources: Reuters, AP