Government officials criticised the ruling, with several accusing the chief justice of bias toward Khan. Speaking on Pakistan’s Dunya TV, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan vowed, “We will arrest him again”, perhaps on charges that were announced a day earlier of inciting the wave of violence.
Khan may also ask the court for protection from future arrest on the corruption charges.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked Khan to appear on Friday at the Islamabad High Court, to reconsider its earlier ruling that the arrest was legal. The court instructed that the PTI chief would remain under police protection at the Police Lines compound in Islamabad, where he has been kept since his arrest. It was not immediately clear when Khan would be able to return home. More than 2,000 people have been arrested, at least 11 others killed and dozens injured in the clashes. PTI supporters have clashed with police around the country, and people have attacked military and government sites, trying to storm the military’s main headquarters and burning down the residence of a top general in Lahore. Khan, 70, was arrested in a corruption case by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) during a court appearance on Tuesday, triggering violent protests across the country and prompting the government to call out the army to help restore order. The government, however, denounced the ruling and said it was determined to find other legal avenues to arrest the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be illegal and ordered that he be immediately released, two days after his detention on corruption allegations triggered violent protests.Īfter the ruling on Thursday, violence around the country appeared to ease, though clashes between celebrating supporters of Khan and police briefly broke out near the Supreme Court building.
0 kommentar(er)
