Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested and dragged from court on Tuesday as he appeared to face charges in multiple graft cases, a dramatic escalation of political tensions that prompted violent protests by his enraged supporters across Pakistan.
Nationwide protests erupt, and at least one individual has been slain in Quetta. In Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and Lahore, similar violence resulted in approximately 15 injuries. The police utilized tear gas to disperse protests.
Imran Khan Arrest
During the violence, officials from Pakistan's telecommunications authority reported that regulators had blocked social media, including Twitter, and that internet service had been suspended in Islamabad and other cities. Wednesday classes at some private institutions were suspended, as per BBC.
The United States and the United Kingdom have called for respect for the "rule of law." Security forces apprehended Khan at the High Court in Islamabad, the nation's capital.
The 70-year-old was bundled into a vehicle and driven away while dozens of officers arrived and detained him, as captured on video. According to him, the corruption allegations against him were politically motivated.
On the orders of the interior ministry, mobile data services in the country were suspended on Friday as protests intensified, with many occurring in front of army compounds. Pakistan's army plays a prominent role in politics, capturing power in military coups and manipulating strings behind the scenes on other occasions.
The detention of Khan, who was removed from office in April 2022 by a vote of no confidence but remained the prominent opposition figure, was the latest confrontation to roil Pakistan, which has seen former prime ministers arrested over the years and military interventions.
Khan was removed from the Islamabad High Court by National Accountability Bureau security agents, according to Fawad Chaudhry, a senior official with Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. According to ABC News, Chaudhry referred to the capture of the former cricket superstar as "a kidnapping." Independent Pakistani television station GEO broadcast footage of Khan being arrested.
Outside the court, an altercation broke out between Khan's supporters and the police. Several lawyers and supporters of Khan, and several police, were injured in the melee. According to police and government officials, Khan was taken to the garrison of Rawalpindi near Islamabad for interrogation at the National Accountability Bureau. Police said he was also scheduled for a routine medical examination.
Khan had traveled from adjacent Lahore to the Islamabad High Court to face charges in the corruption cases. He has called the cases against him, which include terrorism charges, a politically motivated plot by his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, claiming that his removal was illegal and a Western plot.
Khan has run an anti-Sharif campaign and demanded early elections. He was arrested on Tuesday in a separate corruption case for which he had not been granted bail.
The court upheld the legality of the detention, although Khan should not have been forcibly removed from the courtroom, as argued by his attorneys. According to officials, Khan is scheduled to appear before an anti-corruption tribunal on Wednesday.
Pakistan Protests
Khan's supporters have also shared videos depicting men wielding poles and clubs, destroying and torching the residence of a high-ranking military official in the Pakistani city of Lahore.
Massive protests across Pakistan against the arrest of Imran Khan!! The establishment has not only killed the struggling democracy, it is killing the country! https://t.co/xBTBz9XC6I
— Ashok (@ashoswai) May 9, 2023
Protests are organized in all major cities of Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/Tg9tXTW7MV
— S p r i n t e r (@SprinterFamily) May 9, 2023
Massive protests have erupted in Pakistan over the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Take a look at the flames:pic.twitter.com/ICE3NVShZc
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) May 10, 2023
Pakistan Army General’s house in Lahore! Army takeover very likely as protest against Imran Khan’s arrest becoming big and violent. pic.twitter.com/LhzFIQFOGx
— Ashok (@ashoswai) May 9, 2023
Per NPR, supporters staged demonstrations before other military compounds and appeared to seize control of a historic military fort in Peshawar, a city in Pakistan's northwest.
In another video, what appeared to be the sound of gunfire could be heard as protesters dragged a bloodied, wounded man away. A man who requested anonymity out of concern for his safety claims that he captured footage of dozens of individuals assaulting the entrance of Pakistan's military headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The protests began after footage shared by Khan's media team showed khaki-clad men shattering a window with batons to free the former prime minister, who was in a room designated to verify biometric information.
