Imran Khan arrest – live: Pakistan’s former prime minister detained by security forces in Islamabad
Former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested by Pakistan’s security forces during a scheduled court appearance in Islamabad, officials from his party say.
Mr Khan’s party PTI released video footage purporting to show a large crowd of police officers dressed in riot gear escorting the former prime minister to a waiting vehicle.
His lawyer said in a video posted to Twitter that he had been taken into custody outside the Islamabad High Court, and that he was “badly injured” in the process.
PTI official Musarrat Cheema posted a video on Twitter in which she claimed that “they are torturing Imran Khan right now […] they are beating Khan sahib. They have done something with Khan sahib.”
Senior PTI politician, Azhar Mashwani, tweeted a call to start protests across Pakistan.
Hammad Azhar, a former minister in Mr Khan’s ousted government, said the arrest was “not acceptable” and that for the party it represents “our red line”.
The party said Mr Khan had been taken into custody by the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary group operated by the federal interior ministry.
Key Points
Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan arrested in Islamabad
Watch: Protests erupt in Karachi following Imran Khan arrest
Islamabad high court demands explanation for Khan’s arrest
Welcome...
14:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
... to our liveblog where we will keep you updated with the latest as Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is arrested in Islamabad.
Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan arrested in Islamabad
14:12 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested by Pakistan’s security forces during a scheduled court appearance in Islamabad, officials from his party say.
Mr Khan’s party PTI released video footage purporting to show a large crowd of police officers dressed in riot gear escorting the former prime minister to a waiting vehicle.
His lawyer said in a video posted to Twitter that he had been taken into custody outside the Islamabad High Court, and that he was “badly injured” in the process.
PTI official Musarrat Cheema posted a video on Twitter in which she claimed that “they are torturing Imran Khan right now […] they are beating Khan sahib. They have done something with Khan sahib.”
The party said Mr Khan had been taken into custody by the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary group operated by the federal interior ministry.
Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan arrested in Islamabad
Watch: Protests erupt in Karachi following Imran Khan arrest
14:12 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Protests have spread through Karachi after Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan was arrested earlier today.
Islamabad high court demands explanation for Khan’s arrest
14:14 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Imran Khan‘s arrest comes a day after the powerful military issued a rare public rebuke of the former premier for repeated accusations against a senior military official of attempting to assassinate him and the military’s former chief of being behind the move to remove him from power.
A high court in Islamabad has summoned authorities to explain Khan‘s arrest on court premises. Tensions ran high in major cities following the arrest.
Hundreds of supporters blocked streets in Khan‘s home town of Lahore, where police have been put on high alert, as well as the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Protesters also blocked a major road in the port city of Karachi, according to Reuters witnesses.
Politicians call for protestors to ‘shut down Pakistan'
14:42 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Khan‘s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called on supporters to “shut down Pakistan”.
“It’s your time, people of Pakistan. Khan has always stood for you, now its time to stand for him,” the PTI wrote on Twitter.
Khan, 70, a cricket hero-turned-politician, has showed no sign of slowing down since he was ousted as prime minister in April last year, even after being wounded in a November attack on his convoy as he lead a protest march to Islamabad calling for snap general elections.
His arrest comes at a time when ordinary Pakistanis are reeling from the worst economic crisis in decades, with record high inflation and anaemic growth. An International Monetary Fund bailout package has been delayed for months even though foreign exchange reserves are barely enough to cover a month’s imports.
Previous attempts to arrest Khan from his Lahore home resulted in heavy clashes between his supporters and law enforcement personnel.
The PTI said it had called an emergency meeting of senior leaders to discuss their response to the arrest.
Interior minister explains why Imran Khan was arrested
15:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters that Khan had been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after he did not appear “despite notices”.
He said the charges against Khan were that he and his wife had received land worth up to 7 billion rupees ($24.70 million) from a land developer that had been charged with money laundering by British authorities.
He added that British authorities had returned 190 million pounds ($240 million) to Pakistan in connection with money laundering, which Khan then returned to the land developer instead of keeping it in the national exchequer.
Khan had denied wrongdoing.
The NAB issued Khan‘s arrest warrant on May 1, according to an order seen by Reuters. “Khan is accused of commission of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices,” it said.
The graft case is one of more than 100 registered against Khan since he was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote. He served four of his five-year term.
In most of the cases, Khan faces being barred from holding public office if convicted, with a national election scheduled for November.
Political infighting in Pakistan
15:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Political infighting is common in Pakistan, where no prime minister has yet fulfilled a full term and where the military has ruled for nearly half of the country’s history.
Despite the military’s rebuke on Monday, Khan hit back on Tuesday morning, repeating his allegations and adding that the same officer, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Major-General Faisal Naseer, was responsible for the murder of a renowned Pakistani journalist in Kenya in October.
The military has denied Khan‘s allegations. The former PM’s aide, Fawad Chaudhry, directly accused the military authorities of being behind Khan‘s arrest.
The military remains the country’s most powerful institution and has ruled the South Asian nation directly for close to half its 75-year history through three coups. Despite its large influence, it recently said it was no longer interfering.
Khan and the military fell out in 2021 after years of close cooperation. Khan‘s opponents and many prominent critics say Khan was helped to power by the military in the 2018 elections. Khan denies this.
Moment Imran Khan swarmed by police during arrest outside Islamabad High Court
16:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan, has been arrested by the country’s security forces during a scheduled court appearance in Islamabad, officials from his party say.
Mr Khan’s PTI party released video footage purporting to show a large crowd of police officers dressed in riot gear escorting the former PM to a waiting vehicle.
His lawyer said in a video posted to Twitter that he had been taken into custody outside the Islamabad High Court and that he was “badly injured” in the process.
Moment Imran Khan swarmed by police during arrest outside Islamabad High Court
Social media platforms ‘suspended’ after Khan arrest
16:49 , Sam Rkaina
YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are being suspended in parts of Pakistan following Imran Khan’s arrest, according to local TV channels.
There are also reports that private schools will remain closed on Wednesday.
It comes as Pakistan’s former prime minister was arrested and dragged from court as he appeared to face charges in multiple corruption cases, sparking violent demonstrations by his supporters in almost all of the country’s major cities.
Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 but remains the leading opposition figure.
Arrest condemned as ‘an abduction'
17:45 , Sam Rkaina
Mr Khan was removed from Islamabad High Court by security agents from the National Accountability Bureau, said Fawad Chaudhry, a senior official with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and then shoved into an armoured car and driven away.
Mr Chaudhry denounced the arrest of the 71-year-old former cricket star as “an abduction”. Pakistan’s independent GEO TV broadcast video of Mr Khan being hauled away.
A scuffle broke out between Khan supporters and police outside the court. Some of Mr Khan’s lawyers and supporters were injured in the melee, as were several police, Mr Chaudhry said.
Mr Khan’s party complained to the court, which requested a police report explaining the charges for the arrest.
Khan taken to garrison city of Rawalpindi
18:52 , Sam Rkaina
Mr Khan was taken to the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, for questioning at the offices of the National Accountability Bureau, according to police and government officials.
He had arrived at Islamabad High Court from nearby Lahore, where he lives, to face charges in the corruption cases.
He has denounced the cases against him, which include terrorism charges, as a politically motivated plot by his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, saying his removal was illegal and a western conspiracy. Khan has campaigned against Mr Sharif and demanded early elections.
Tuesday’s arrest was based on a new warrant from the National Accountability Bureau obtained last week in a separate case for which Khan had not been granted bail, making him vulnerable to be seized, and his lawyers have challenged the legality of the arrest. He is scheduled to appear at an anti-corruption tribunal on Wednesday, officials said.
“Imran Khan has been arrested because he was being sought in a graft case,” interior minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told a news conference.
He alleged Pakistan’s treasury had lost millions of dollars while Khan was in office due to illegal purchases of lands from a business tycoon.
Law minister denounces violence
19:40 , Sam Rkaina
At a news conference, law minister Azam Tarar said Khan was arrested because he was not cooperating with the investigations. He also denounced the violence by Khan supporters, saying protests must remain peaceful.
“It should have not happened,” he said, shortly after TV video emerged of burning vehicles and damaged public property in parts of the country.
Authorities said they have banned rallies in the eastern province of Punjab.
As the news of the arrest spread, about 4,000 Khan supporters stormed the official residence of the top regional commander in Lahore, smashing windows and doors, damaging furniture and staging a sit-in as troops retreated to avoid violence. The protesters also burned police vehicles and blocked key roads.
Protesters also smashed the main gate of the army’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where troops exercised restraint. Hundreds of demonstrators shouted pro-Khan slogans as they moved towards the sprawling building.
In Karachi, police swung batons and fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Khan supporters who had gathered on a key road.
Khan arrest is ‘blatant interference in the judicial affairs'
20:38 , Sam Rkaina
Raoof Hasan, another leader from Khan’s party, told Al Jazeera English television that the arrest was “blatant interference in the judicial affairs by the powers-that-be”. He added that Khan “was virtually abducted from the court of law”.
Khan’s arrest came hours after he issued a video message before heading to Islamabad, saying he was “mentally prepared” for arrest.
Khan was wounded by a gunman at a rally in November in an attack that killed one of his supporters and wounded 13.
He has insisted, without offering any evidence, that there is a plot to assassinate him, alleging that Pakistan’s spy agency was behind the conspiracy.
The gunman was immediately arrested and police later released a video of him in custody, allegedly saying he had acted alone.
In a strongly worded statement on Monday, the military accused Khan of “fabricated and malicious allegations” about its involvement in the November shooting, saying they are “extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable”.
The military has directly ruled Pakistan for more than half of the 75 years since the country gained independence from British colonial rule, and wields considerable power over civilian governments.
Mr Sharif, whose government faces spiralling economic woes, condemned Khan for criticising the military.
“Let this be abundantly clear that you, as former prime minister, currently on trial for corruption, are claiming legitimacy to overturn the legal and political system,” Mr Sharif tweeted after Khan’s arrest.
21:01 , Sam Rkaina
We’re pausing our live coverage of Imran Khan’s arrest for the evening, but keep checking independent.co.uk for the latest updates.
