Imran Khan can be held for eight days: Pakistani judge

Munir Ahmed and Riazat Butt | May 10, 2023

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan can be held for questioning for eight days, a court has ruled, a day after the country’s popular opposition leader was dragged from a courtroom and arrested.

His detention set off clashes between his supporters and police on Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead. 

On Wednesday, angry protesters stormed and set fire to a building housing Radio Pakistan in the northwest.

The 70-year-old politician lost power last year but remains the country’s most popular opposition figure. 

He is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in Pakistan. 

His dramatic arrest on Tuesday has deepened the political turmoil.

Two people were killed, one Tuesday in the southwestern city of Quetta and another in the northwestern city of Peshawar overnight. 

Two more were killed in clashes with police in Peshawar on Wednesday.

The local government asked the army to step in and restore order in eastern Punjab province, where authorities said 157 police officers were injured in clashes with Khan supporters.

Pakistan’s GEO television broadcast footage showing Khan appearing before a judge at a temporary court inside a police compound on Wednesday. 

The former premier, seen seated in a chair, holding documents, appeared calm but tired.

Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau requested the 14-day detention of Khan but the tribunal said authorities could keep him in custody for eight days.

Khan’s legal team challenged his arrest before the Islamabad High Court, seeking his release.

Also in Peshawar, Khan’s supporters raided the building housing Radio Pakistan, damaging equipment and setting fire to it, police official Naeem Khan said.

Some of the employees were trapped inside, he said, and police were trying to restore order.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party had called for demonstrators to remain peaceful, hours after mobs angered over the dramatic arrest set fire to the residence of a top army general in the eastern city of Lahore.

When he was arrested on Tuesday, Khan was appearing in court on multiple graft charges brought by Islamabad police. 

As he showed up in court, dozens of agents from the National Accountability Bureau backed by paramilitary troops stormed the courtroom, breaking windows after Khan’s guards refused to open the door.

Khan’s supporters attacked the military’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near the capital, Islamabad, but did not reach the main building housing the offices of army chief General Asim Munir.

Other demonstrators tried to reach the prime minister’s residence in Lahore but were driven off by baton-wielding police. 

Others attacked vehicles carrying troops and hit armed soldiers with sticks. 

So far, police and soldiers have not fired at protesters.

The military has not commented on the attacks on its facilities. 

None of the leaders from Khan’s party denounced the attacks on the military.

A police statement on Wednesday said officers in eastern Punjab province had arrested 945 Khan supporters since Tuesday including Asad Umar, a senior leader from Khan’s party. 

Shah Mahmood Qureshi, senior vice president from Khan’s party, appealed for peaceful demonstrations on Wednesday.

“Don’t damage public property. Don’t attack offices, as we are peace lovers,” he urged followers.

He said the party was considering challenging Khan’s arrest in the Supreme Court.

Police deployed in force across the country, and placed shipping containers on a road leading to the sprawling police compound in Islamabad where Khan is being held and where he appeared before a judge at the temporary court placed there for security reasons, according to the government.

Pakistan’s telecommunication authority on Tuesday blocked social media, including Twitter, and the government suspended internet service in Islamabad and other cities. 

Rights group Amnesty International said it was alarmed by reports of Pakistani authorities blocking access to mobile internet networks and social media – Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are suspended for a second day. 

Amnesty urged authorities to show restraint, saying clashes between law enforcement and Khan’s supporters risk human rights violations.