ISLAMABAD (AP) — As lawsuits against former Prime Minister Imran Khan mounted, a second Pakistani court ruled in his favor and granted him protection from arrest. When his supporters clashed with police this month, the ousted premier was charged with inciting violence in multiple instances.
The most recent relief for Khan comes as a political emergency irritates Pakistan, pitting the previous cricket star turned Islamist lawmaker against the public authority of his replacement, Shahbaz Sharif, and spilling into savagery in the roads.
A vote of no confidence in Parliament in April led to Khan's removal. More than a hundred legal cases have been filed against the opposition leader, who is 70 years old, since then. These cases include allegations of terrorism, incitement to violence, and graft while in office.
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2 of 14The former Prime Minister Imran Khan is shielded by bulletproof shields by security personnel as he arrives at a court in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 27, 2023. As lawsuits against the ousted premier mounted and police charged him with inciting violence in several instances during his followers' clashes with the security forces this month, a Pakistani court ruled in Khan's favor and granted him protection from arrest. Anjum Naveed/APShow Less ISLAMABAD (AP) — On Monday, another Pakistani court ruled in Imran Khan's favor, granting him protection from arrest as lawsuits against him mounted. When his supporters clashed with police this month, the ousted premier was charged with inciting violence in multiple instances.
The most recent reprieve granted to Khan comes at a time when a political crisis is raging in Pakistan. It pits khan, a former cricket star who became an islamist politician, against the shahbaz sharif government, which has sparked violence in the streets.
Khan was removed through a no-certainty vote in Parliament last April. More than a hundred legal cases have been filed against the opposition leader, who is 70 years old, since then. These cases include allegations of terrorism, incitement to violence, and graft while in office.
Read More He has claimed, without providing evidence, that there are numerous plots to assassinate him, and he has unsuccessfully campaigned for early elections.
Monday, the Islamabad High Court ruled that Khan cannot be arrested for at least another week in seven separate cases involving clashes between his supporters and police on March 18 outside of a court in the Pakistani capital where Khan was scheduled to appear on graft charges.
The supporters of Khan threw stones at the officers and got into fights with the police, who used batons and tear gas to beat the crowd and use tear gas. Since then, over that and other incidents, nearly 400 Khan supporters have been arrested by Islamabad police.
The decisions made on Monday were similar to those made by a court in the eastern city of Lahore, which recently gave the former prime minister multiple bails. A suspect is protected from arrest by such court decisions under Pakistani law.
Since being shot at a protest rally in the eastern Punjab province in November, Khan has mostly avoided court appearances. 13 people were injured and one of his supporters was killed in that attack.