The former cricketer-turned-politician’s arrest caused a stir between the military and Khan’s supporters.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan was unlawful. One of Khan’s aides remained in the court’s custody for his own safety.
Khan was arrested on corruption charges by paramilitary troops in a sudden operation that saw officers smash their way into a courthouse in the capital Islamabad to detain him.
He was then held in a guesthouse inside police headquarters where he appeared for a special hearing in front of a judge behind closed doors and was remanded for over a week for corruption.
His continued detention was challenged by his lawyers because the trial of their client took place in police headquarters instead of a courthouse. Police stated that it was to keep Khan away from the chaos and to maintain national security.
Following his arrest, eight people died and hundreds have been arrested as protests pitting his supporters against army supporters turned violent.
Khan was accused of illegally acquiring land to construct a university. In a separate charge, he was alleged to have unlawfully sold gifts sent to him by foreign leaders while in office.
In a pre-recorded statement released on YouTube by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party after his arrest, the former prime minister said he was “detained on incorrect charges” and told his supporters “the time has come for all of you to come and struggle for your rights.”
The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician’s arrest escalated what was already a tense showdown between the military and Khan’s supporters.
The largest protests took place in the cities of Lahore and Peshawar.
Hundreds of protesters stormed the national broadcaster Radio Pakistan headquarters in Peshawar, setting the building on fire.
More than 300 people have been injured, according to officials. Nearly 1,000 supporters of Khan were arrested in the country’s most populous Punjab province, according to the police.
Private schools were ordered shut nationwide, with certain countries, including the United States, issuing travel advisories. Mobile internet services were blocked by the government in a bid to quell the chaos, disrupting access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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