Pakistan court postpones police operation to arrest Imran Khan
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The attempt to arrest Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan triggered clashes between his supporters and security forces in Lahore.
PHOTO: AFP
LAHORE – A Pakistani high court ordered the police on Thursday to postpone the arrest of Imran Khan for another day, defusing a surge in violence that saw supporters of the former prime minister fighting pitched battles with security forces.
Khan’s aide Fawad Chaudhry said the Lahore high court had extended an order to halt the police operation until Friday. Punjab State Information Minister Amir Mir confirmed the court order.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, dozens of Khan’s supporters, armed with batons and slingshots, barricaded his home to prevent security forces from arresting him for failing to show up in court over a case in which he is charged with illegally selling state gifts given to him while he was prime minister. Khan, 70, denies the charges.
The court-ordered bid to arrest Khan, which began on Tuesday, triggered clashes between his supporters and security forces in his Lahore neighbourhood, raising fears about the political stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan as it faces an economic crisis.
The violence, in which protesters torched police vehicles, a water-cannon truck and scores of cars and motorcycles while hurling petrol bombs at security forces firing tear gas and rubber bullets, subsided after the high court halted the police operation on Wednesday.
A lower court in Islamabad had issued a warrant against the former international cricketer for defying orders to present himself in court over charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries when he was prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
The National Election Commission had found him guilty and barred the former prime minister from holding public office for one parliamentary term.
The legal proceedings against Khan began after he was ousted from office in a parliamentary vote in early 2022.
Since then, he has been demanding a snap election and holding nationwide protest rallies, and was shot and wounded at one of these rallies.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected Khan’s demands, saying the election would be held as scheduled later in 2023. REUTERS
