Pakistan’s supreme court has ruled the arrest of the former prime minister Imran Khan to be illegal and ordered for him to be released immediately.
In a dramatic ruling, the chief justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, declared that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had acted in violation of the law by arresting Khan from the premises of the Islamabad high court without permission and that such actions would have a “chilling effect”.
Khan was arrested by paramilitary troops on Tuesday as he entered the high court to face a corruption case. Bandial said Khan had already surrendered to the court when almost 100 officers had barged in and detained him, and declared Khan’s arrest illegal and in contempt of court.
“What dignity remains of the court if 90 people entered its premises? How can any individual be arrested from court premises?” said Bandial.
Amid heavy security, Khan was brought before the court and addressed by the judge before orders were given for his immediate release. “There have been incidents of violence after your arrest,” said Bandial. “We want peace in the country.”
By Thursday, five leaders from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) had been arrested. The PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry was arrested late on Wednesday night, despite having obtained protective bail from the courts. On Thursday Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who served as foreign minister in Khan’s cabinet, was picked up by police, as well as the senior PTI leaders Ali Muhammad Khan and Ejaz Chaudhry. PTI’s former finance minister Asad Umar was also arrested on Wednesday.
Islamabad police said the PTI leaders had been arrested “for inciting arson and violent protests under a well-thought out plan for threatening peace”. Seven cases have also been filed against PTI’s top leaders, including Khan, for an attack that took place by supporters on the home of a senior military officer.
Violence has continued to erupt across the country. Seven people were killed and dozens were injured after clashes broke out between protesters and police in the city of Peshawar on Wednesday, according to the local government. One person died from smoke inhalation after a building was set ablaze in Lahore and another was shot near a military checkpoint in the city of Quetta.
PTI leaders have alleged Khan’s detention is political persecution by the government and the powerful military establishment. Khan had enjoyed a close relationship with the military while he was in power, but after he was removed from office last year he became highly critical of the top military leaders and accused them of colluding with foreign powers to orchestrate his downfall and of attempting to assassinate him. The military has denied all of his accusations.
Khan’s popularity has soared since he was removed and he regularly mobilised protests across the country to demand early general elections and the military’s removal from politics.
Khan’s followers and PTI leaders vowed to stay on the streets until the former prime minister was released. As the situation remained febrile, army officers were deployed across Islamabad and in the states of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where some of the worst violence took place. Police said they had arrested 1,300 people and 290 people had been injured in the violence.
Among the buildings attacked by protesters was the Lahore residence of the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif – where petrol bombs were thrown outside – as well as more than a dozen government offices. In Peshawar, protesters ransacked the offices of the election commission and set fire to cars and motorcycles.
In a strongly worded address to the nation late on Wednesday, Sharif issued a warning to the rioters. “These terrorist and anti-state elements are being warned to desist from taking law into their hands, otherwise they will be dealt with iron hands. Safeguarding the motherland and its ideology is more precious than their lives,” he said.
In a statement addressing the unrest in Pakistan, the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, called for “all parties to refrain from violence”.
