Tue 09 May 2023:
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Kahn has been arrested during a court appearance in Islamabad.
Fawad Chaudhry of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, confirmed the arrest of the former prime minister in a tweet,
Another arrest video of Imran Khan. pic.twitter.com/uOg8FV2dGn
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) May 9, 2023
#VIDEO: #Pakistan‘s former Prime Minister Imran Khan arrested pic.twitter.com/TQ4O4S41Ck
— Saudi Gazette (@Saudi_Gazette) May 9, 2023
Khan’ supporters launch countrywide protests
Following Khan’s arrest, protests have broken out across Pakistan.
Supporters of Khan’s PTI party have taken to the streets in all major cities, including the provincial capitals of Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.
Videos posted on the party’s social media accounts purportedly showed police firing tear gas at protesters in Karachi.
Police have used tear gas and water cannon to quell protests that erupted in several cities across Pakistan following Khan’s arrest.
In Karachi, police used tear gas to disperse protesters who had gathered on the main road running through the country’s largest city.
In the eastern city of Lahore, where Khan resides, police used water cannon, according to reports.
Protest against Imran Khan’s arrest.
Peshawar 📍 pic.twitter.com/mPksevxvm1— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) May 9, 2023
Peshawar 📍 pic.twitter.com/396teQFY2R
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) May 9, 2023
Zaman Park Lahore 📍 pic.twitter.com/ssqZz0KWyG
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) May 9, 2023
Khan’s lawyer says Rangers hit politician on his head, kicked him
Imran Khan’s lawyer has accused the Rangers of hitting Khan on his head and kicking him before taking him away.
“Rangers forcibly entered and broke the door and window [of the room]. They picked up Imran Khan from his wheelchair, hit him on his head and kicked him,” Gohar Ali Khan, who was accompanying the former prime minister at the Islamabad High Court, said in a video posted on the PTI’s social media account.
“I fell during the commotion. Rangers pepper sprayed him and took him away,” the lawyer added.
He said no police officials were present inside the room where Khan was arrested from.
‘Ready to go to jail,’ Khan had said in pre-arrest video message
My reply to ISPR & attempts by PDM & their handlers to arrest me for two reasons: 1. To prevent me from campaigning bec InshaAllah when elections are announced I will be doing jalsas. 2. To prevent me from mobilising the masses for street movement in support of Constitution if… pic.twitter.com/IQIQmFERah
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 9, 2023
In a video message posted before setting off for Islamabad, Khan had said he was “ready to go to jail” if officials presented an arrest warrant.
“There is no need to bring police, Rangers and army in order to arrest me,” Khan said in the message as he left his home in the eastern city of Lahore.
“If someone has a warrant, they can show it to me and my legal team and I will hand myself in. I am ready to go to jail.”
Khan claimed there was no case against him but he was “mentally prepared” to hand himself in.
‘Rangers controlled by forces above the law’
Previous attempts to arrest Khan from his Lahore residence had resulted in heavy clashes between his supporters and law enforcement personnel.
“Every time he appeared in court, his followers feared an arrest as attempts were made in the past,” Khan’s spokesman Raoof Hasan told Al Jazeera.
Hasan dubbed the arrest a “blatant interference into judicial affairs by the powers that be”.
He said the Rangers, a paramilitary force that arrested Khan, were “not directly controlled by the government in power”.
“They are controlled by other forces that are considered above the law in this country,” Hasan added, without elaborating.
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