PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) has ordered that Imran Khan be immediately released after the former Prime Minister was arrested by the country’s anti-corruption agency.
The top court’s order on Thursday came after Khan’s legal team challenged his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday.
The three-member Bench of the court declared Khan’s arrest unlawful, providing a major relief for the Chairman of the Tehreek-e-Insaf Party.
The Bench had heard the petition over the legality of Khan’s arrest earlier in the day and ordered authorities to bring him to court within an hour.
Khan’s shock arrest has triggered violent protests across the country, prompting the Government to call out the Army to help restore order.
Authorities have also arrested at least three senior leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party as of Thursday, including former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during Imran’s Premiership between 2018 and 2022.
A total of nearly 2,500 people have been arrested so far and at least 11 killed and dozens injured after Khan’s supporters clashed with police in several cities. Meanwhile, Imran Khan’s supporters on Wednesday attacked the Lahore residence of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Police said.
According to Police, over 500 supporters from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party reached the Model Town Lahore residence of the Prime Minister in the early hours of Wednesday and set ablaze vehicles parked over there. In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said strict action would be taken against “state’s enemies” as he slammed Khan’s PTI for violence that gripped the country after his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.
“The miscreants will be dealt with iron hands. They will be punished according to the law,” the Prime Minister said and urged PTI protesters to immediately stop “anti-state activities”.
Meanwhile, U.N.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for peace in Pakistan. According to Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Guterres has appealed to all parties to respect the right to peaceful assembly and has stressed the need for law enforcers to honour the law while enforcing it against Khan.
- AL JAZEERA, BBC
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