Global Courant 2023-05-13 11:00:00
LAHORE, Pakistan – Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan arrived at his residence in Lahore on Saturday after being released on bail following days of legal drama and nationwide rioting over his arrest on corruption charges.
Khan was beleaguered by dozens of paramilitary forces and arrested during a routine trial on Tuesday, sparking violent clashes in several cities between his supporters and security forces.
His arrest came just hours after he was reprimanded by the powerful military, which once again accused him of being involved in an assassination attempt against him last year.
The on-court arrest as he prepared to file a bail application was declared illegal on Thursday by the Supreme Court, which detained Khan until Friday – when he was granted two weeks’ bail in the corruption case.
The Islamabad High Court also ordered Khan not to be arrested before Monday in any event.
Khan has been entangled in a slew of legal charges – a common threat to opposition members in Pakistan – since he was removed from power in April last year.
“The head of the country’s largest party has been kidnapped, kidnapped from the Supreme Court and for the entire nation,” Khan told AFP from the courthouse.
“They treated me like a terrorist, this had to have a reaction,” he said of the protests that followed.
Khan finally left the heavily guarded court late Friday, hours after his hearings ended and protesters a few miles away clashed with police, who responded with tear gas. Officers were also shot at, police said.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the former cricket superstar reached his Lahore residence where videos posted by his PTI party showed more than 100 supporters celebrating his release and throwing rose petals over his car.
“They keep trying to silence Khan and keep trying to put him behind bars. But Khan has proven that whoever stands behind the truth always wins,” 21-year-old supporter Waqar Ahsan told AFP after Khan was released on bail.
Ms. Zuneira Shah, a 40-year-old mother of three, feared “the establishment would keep coming for him”.
“Khan threatens their decades of corruption, so of course they won’t sit still. It’s a long battle ahead, but today is a victory.”
Several thousand of his supporters have stormed through cities since Tuesday in protest of Khan’s detention, setting fire to buildings, blocking roads and clashing with police outside military installations.
