Imran Khan, the ousted Prime Minister of Pakistan and head of the opposition Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, has been arrested in a corruption case, triggering massive protests across the country. His lawyers have alleged a plot to kill him in prison, claiming that he was tortured and that his meals were laced with insulin to induce a heart attack. Mr. Khan’s arrest has been deemed illegal by the Pakistan Supreme Court, which has ordered his immediate release.
The murder plot charges come over a month after Pakistan minister Rana Sanaullah had said “Either Imran Khan or we will get murdered.” Mr. Khan had also survived a gun attack at a rally last November. The Supreme Court yesterday criticized Mr. Khan’s arrest from the court where he had come to appear in a case, stating that a person cannot be arrested from the court premises without the permission of the registrar.
Mr. Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case follows months of the political crisis in Pakistan and hours after Pakistan’s powerful military rebuked him for alleging a murder plot by a senior officer. His supporters responded with protests and set the house of a corps commander on fire in Lahore. They also laid siege to the army’s general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan has faced at least three coups by the military in the past, and several politicians have been jailed. Mr. Khan, a former cricketing star who remains popular in Pakistan, has urged people to keep fighting to restore the rule of law. Today he will appear before the Islamabad High Court to seek pre-arrest bail and address his supporters outside the court.
The situation in Pakistan remains tense, and Mr. Khan’s arrest has heightened political tensions in the country. The allegations of a plot to kill him in prison have added to the uncertainty, with his lawyers calling for an investigation into the matter. It remains to be seen what the outcome of today’s court hearing will be and how the situation will develop in the coming days.
