Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir of “abducting” him, as he returned to his Lahore home after being released on bail by a court in Islamabad. Khan had locked himself in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises for hours, fearing re-arrest, despite being granted bail on Friday.
He criticized the “imported government for kidnapping” him, despite being granted bail in all cases. The IHC granted Khan protective bail for two weeks in a corruption case and barred authorities from arresting him until Monday. Khan is facing over 120 points across the country, including for allegedly committing treason, blasphemy, inciting violence, and terrorism.
The arrest of Khan on Tuesday by the Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises in a corruption case triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday in which scores of people were killed and the protesters destroyed dozens of military and state installations. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the protesters stormed into the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched a corps commander’s house in Lahore.
Khan is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. Khan, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders, is facing a NAB inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon. In the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, Khan is accused of looting Rs 50 billion from the national treasury.
During the hearing at IHC, Khan’s lawyers filed four additional requests which urged the IHC to club all the cases against him and to direct authorities to provide details of the cases registered against him. The hearing was delayed for nearly two hours due to security reasons. The arrest of Khan triggered protests across the country, which led to violent clashes and loss of life.