Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested in connection with a corruption case under initially unclear circumstances. Khan, who was ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament last year, was scheduled to appear before the High Court in Islamabad on Tuesday to testify in an ongoing case against him.
Alexander Haneke
Editor in politics.
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The Reuters news agency, citing eyewitnesses, reported that paramilitary units arrived on the courthouse shortly after Khan, blocked the gates with armored vehicles and then took the former prime minister away.
Apparently, the arrest was not ordered by the High Court. According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the chief justice, Aamer Farooq, protested against the action of the security authorities and demanded that the police chief be informed of the reasons. He even threatened to summon Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif if he did not receive information about the background to the arrest.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Khan had been taken into custody at the behest of the National Anti-Corruption Agency. Pakistani media, on the other hand, speculated about a connection with accusations made by Khan against the army leadership. Khan had recently claimed that a senior general was involved in an assassination attempt against him in which he was shot at a campaign rally in the fall. Before his arrest, Khan had reiterated the allegations in a video message on Tuesday.
Khan remains at the helm of the opposition PTI and wants to return to power in the upcoming elections in the fall. Since the assassination, the former cricket star has styled himself as the people's candidate against the elites who wanted to prevent him.
Since his loss of power in the wake of the no-confidence vote, numerous corruption cases have been underway against Khan. However, Pakistan's anti-corruption agency has always been accused of being a means of persecuting political opponents. In recent months, Khan had managed to avoid arrest several times, most recently in March, when PTI supporters prevented security forces from entering Khan's estate in Lahore, resulting in clashes.
Critics accuse Khan of having used all means to keep the opposition down during his time as prime minister. According to his opponents, Khan won the 2018 election only with the help of the army, which in Pakistan is considered the real power in the state. According to popular belief, the generals later abandoned him after he had become increasingly unpopular among the people, as he could not get a grip on the severe economic crisis and increasingly openly relied on repression against his opponents.