PremiumFormer Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan slammed the incumbent Shehbaz Sharif-led government for planning his arrest. He said it was all part of the 'London plan' to finish cases against the country's former premier Nawaz Sharif. Police clashed with Imran Khan supporters outside the former premier’s home as security officials tried to arrest him for the second time, deepening a political crisis that’s overshadowing the nation’s economic turmoil.
Police fired tear gas and water cannons at Khan’s supporters late Tuesday to disperse them and clear the makeshift tents that have sprung up in the past few months around his home in the central city of Lahore.
These supporters, which Khan’s aides say are in the thousands, have been camping there to prevent any arrest of the former cricket star. This latest arrest warrant is to compel Khan to turn up in court on March 18 and face charges for failing to disclose funds obtained from the sale of state gifts when he was in power.
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According to Geo News, the Lahore High Court has asked Pakistan Polcie to halt operation to arrest ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan till 10 am on Thursday, 16 March.
According to Geo News he Pakistan Police has withdrawn from around ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan's house. However, the the cops have also stated that they will continue their operation to arrest Imran Khan after the Pakistan Super League cricket match in Lahore.
Pakistani security forces withdrew from around Imran Khan's home on Wednesday, putting a halt to clashes that had erupted after police tried to arrest the former prime minister for not showing up in a case against him related to selling state gifts.
Police and other security personnel were seen leaving the Lahore neighbourhood were Khan's home is located. Earlier, security forces had fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of Khan's supporters who had cordoned off his home in an effort to prevent his arrest.
Reuters
The current volatile political situation in Pakistan has become a factor in delaying a much-needed deal with the Washington-based IMF that may stabilise the cash-strapped country's economy, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Pakistan's economy is in dire straits. The country is awaiting a much-needed USD 1.1 billion tranche of funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The funds are part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package the IMF approved in 2019, which analysts say is critical if Pakistan is to avoid defaulting on external debt obligations.
Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan has accused the federal government of planning his arrest according to a "London plan" to finish all cases against the country's former premier Nawaz Sharif.
In a video message, Khan said, "This is part of the London plan and an agreement has been signed there to put Imran in jail, make the PTI fall and finish all cases against Nawaz Sharif."
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday claimed that party chief Imran Khan was attacked "through bullets, expired tear gas and etc."
"Pakistan's most popular leader and former Prime Minister was attacked through bullets, expired tear gas and etc. The fascism of this regime stands exposed," PTI tweeted on its official Twitter handle at 11:52 am on Wednesday.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan is willing to give a surety bond that he will appear in court on Saturday, he said in a video address as clashes continued between his supporters and law enforcers.
A lower trial court in capital Islamabad had issued a arrest warrant for Khan for not appearing before it despite several summons. Khan is accused of unlawfully selling state gifts while in power from 2018 to 2022, but he denies wrongdoing. (Reuters)
The Pakistan Army considers security of borders as its first priority and will not be available for poll duty in the upcoming provincial elections due to the "current situation" in the country, the defence ministry has informed the election commission.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) held back-to-back meetings with top Punjab officials and the secretary and additional secretary of the federal defence ministry to discuss security for the elections. (PTI)
Imran Khan is wanted in the Toshakhana corruption case. Earlier in October 2022, Pakistan's election commission found the PTI chief guilty of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries during his term as prime minister.
Following this, charges were then filed in an anti-corruption court against him. However, an arrest warrant was issued last week after he skipped the summons.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on 14 March put out a video message appealing to his supporters to fight for their rights even if he is jailed or killed. Khan's appeal comes amid his supporters blocked Pakistan police's attempts to arrest him from his Lahore home in a corruption case.
"The police have arrived to arrest me. They think that if Imran Khan goes to jail, the people will go to sleep. You have to prove them wrong, you have to prove that the qaum (people) is alive," Khan said while addressing the people.
“Since yesterday afternoon, my house is under heavy attack. The Rangers' latest incursion pits the country's largest political party against the military. This is what the enemies of PDM and Pakistan want. No lessons have been learned from the tragedy of East Pakistan," Imran Khan tweeted.
Here are key details of the situation:
- Court orders to arrest Khan came in a case pertaining to his selling state gifts given by foreign leaders while he was prime minister. Pakistan's election commission found him guilty in the matter and now a criminal inquiry is under way. Khan says he broke no rules and sold the items legally.
- Khan says 76 cases have been registered against him since he was ousted by a parliamentary vote in April 2022, less than four years into his five-year term. He has appeared in court for other cases.
- If convicted, Khan faces being barred from holding public office, which would be a setback for the cricketer-turned-politician with a national election scheduled for November.
- If he is arrested, Khan's party has vowed to ramp up protests, which analysts say would add to the struggles of a government already hobbled by an economic crisis that has left the nuclear-armed country on the brink of default. (Reuters)
Lahore police spokesman Syed Mubashir said more than 35 policemen had been injured since the operation began. Imran Khan issued a video shortly before dawn, sitting in front of Pakistan and PTI flags at a desk decorated with spent teargas canisters.
"They're going to come again," he said.
"They will teargas our people and do other such things, but you should know that they have no justification to do so."
Pakistan's Imran Khan said on Wednesday he would heed a court summons, as his supporters continued to clash with security forces that had come to arrest the former prime minister for not showing up in a case against him related to selling state gifts.
The violence, which erupted on Tuesday and involved security forces firing tear gas and water cannons at stone-pelting crowds that had cordoned off Khan's home in Lahore, adds to the instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which is struggling with an economic crisis and awaiting an International Monetary Fund bailout.
Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan threw bricks at police who fought back with clubs and tear gas for a second day Wednesday after officers tried to arrest the ousted premier for failing to appear in court on graft charges.
Police have been besieging the 70-year-old opposition leader’s house in the eastern city of Lahore since Tuesday while his supporters hurled rocks and bricks, and swung batons snatched from the officers.
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