Pakistan’s ex-PM to face court after arrest sparks violence

BLOOMBERG

Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan appears at an anti-graft tribunal after his dramatic arrest sparked violent clashes and prompted his supporters to protest outside the military’s headquarters.
Khan was arrested by paramilitary troops on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an autonomous anti-graft agency, in relation to a case involving a land deal. He was moved to its headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi for questioning late into the night as angry protests erupted across Pakistan.
The Islamabad High Court said that the arrest was legal, according Khan’s lawyer, Intazar Hussain Panjutha. Khan’s legal team intends to challenge his detention and any request from the NAB to keep him in custody, Panjutha added.
The arrest came a day after Pakistan’s military issued a rare statement blasting Khan for repeating allegations that a senior military officer was behind his assassination attempt in 2022. The 70-year-old former cricket star has regularly criticised members of the military, Pakistan’s most powerful institution, since he was ousted as prime minister in April last year.
A prolonged detention for Khan, whose popularity has been surging ahead of an election that must be called by mid-August, threatens to destabilise Pakistan as it looks to secure more cash from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avoid default.
As news of Khan’s detention spread, his supporters in several cities took to the streets and clashed with security forces, who fired tear gas and tried to beat them back. A video from Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, showed some supporters wielding sticks and face masks entering the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi and shouting angry slogans.
Khan’s party reported at least four people were killed and 20 injured in separate clashes. Protesters also set fire to at least three buildings across Pakistan, while police said dozens of supporters have been arrested. The Interior Ministry suspended mobile broadband services in parts of the country, while complaints of slow internet service spread on social media.
It’s unclear if Khan will be released ahead of the election. The NAB in the past has detained former prime ministers and top government officials for lengthy periods of time before being released and ultimately found innocent. During Khan’s administration, Shehbaz Sharif, the current prime minister who was then in opposition, was arrested by the NAB and kept in custody for nearly seven months.
The Pakistan military wields an outsized influence over politics as well as foreign and security affairs, having directly ruled the nuclear-armed nation for half of its history since its founding in 1947.