1683639161 Impressive footage of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khans arrest

Impressive footage of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest

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Security personnel guard the main entrance of the High Court for the arrival of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad May 9, 2023. Imran Khan was arrested on May 9, police said, during a court appearance on one of dozens of cases pending since he was booted out of office last year. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP) AAMIR QURESHI/ AFP Security personnel guard the main entrance of the High Court for the arrival of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad May 9, 2023. Imran Khan was arrested on May 9, police said, during a court appearance for one of dozens pending cases since he was booted out of office last year. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

AAMIR QURESHI / AFP

Security forces outside Islamabad’s Supreme Court prior to the arrival of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 9, 2023.

INTERNATIONAL – Chaos in Islamabad. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday May 9 as he was due to appear in a court in the capital in a case called the “Qadir Trust” to answer corruption charges.

As you can see in the images released by the media below, Imran Khan was escorted by dozens of black-clad police officers and taken away in an armored vehicle. Local TV channels showed scenes of the stampede outside the courthouse, where hundreds of PTI supporters clashed with security forces.

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After the arrest, officials from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party urged their supporters to take to the streets, but police warned that an order banning gatherings of more than four people was in force and be strictly enforced.

In Islamabad, law enforcement used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters. AFP correspondents in Lahore in the east of the country reported water cannons, while in Karachi in the south police used tear gas to disperse protesters.

On Twitter, the PTI party posted several photos and videos from rallies across the country, as you can see above. All the protesters present are demanding the release of Imran Khan, who has been the target of several dozen lawsuits since his impeachment last year.

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An assassination attempt in 2022

His arrest comes a day after the army warned of “baseless allegations” by the former prime minister, who resigned from his post in April 2022.

Indeed, at a weekend rally in Lahore, Imran Khan again claimed that Major General Faisal Naseer, a senior intelligence officer, was involved in his assassination in early November 2022. The former Prime Minister had been shot in the leg.

“These fabricated and malicious allegations are extremely regrettable, regrettable and unacceptable,” the Army’s Interservice Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

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“This has been a constant trend since last year. Military and intelligence officials are the target of innuendos and noisy propaganda aimed at furthering political ends,” he adds.

From ally to enemy of the army

For his part, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is also accused of being involved in the assassination plot by Imran Khan, claimed on Twitter that “his allegations without evidence against General Faisal Naseer and our intelligence officials cannot be admitted and will be condoned”.

Officially, the attack on Imran Khan is the work of a lone perpetrator who claimed responsibility in a video released by the police and is now in custody. However, those conclusions were dismissed by the former prime minister, who points out that authorities dismissed his attempts to file a preliminary information report (RPI) with the police to identify the “real culprits”.

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Criticism of the military institution is rare in Pakistan, where army leaders wield significant influence over domestic and foreign policy. They have long been accused of interfering in the rise and fall of governments.

The army’s warning shows how relations between Imran Khan and the country’s powerful army have deteriorated: it first backed his rise to power in 2018 before withdrawing its support, then defeated Imran Khan by a vote of no confidence in April ousted from office in Parliament in 2022.

Pakistan on the brink of elections

Since then, the politician has been urging the fragile coalition government to hold snap elections before October.

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Imran Khan has been the target of dozens of lawsuits since his ouster, a tactic used by various Pakistani governments to silence their opponents, analysts say.

Pakistan’s powerful military wields immense influence over the country and has staged at least three coups since independence in 1947, lasting more than thirty years.

As October’s national election draws near, a myriad of lawsuits are being scrutinized in the courts to secure early votes in provincial assemblies, which are usually held at the same time.

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Years of financial mismanagement and political instability have brought Pakistan’s economy to the brink of collapse, a situation exacerbated by a global energy crisis and devastating floods that submerged a third of the country last year.

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