Imran Khan: Violence and mass arrests as former Pakistan PM charged with corruption

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has pleaded not responsible to corruption expenses a day after his arrest sparked nationwide protests.

Eight individuals have died nationwide within the protests and about 1,000 have been arrested, police say.

The military is being deployed in some areas, and has issued a stern warning after crowds attacked its properties.

Mr Khan’s arrest dramatically escalated tensions between Mr Khan and the navy at a time of financial disaster.

Conviction would disqualify the former cricket star – prime minister from 2018 to 2022 – from standing for workplace, probably for all times. Elections are due later this yr.

There is tight safety on the police guesthouse the place he’s being detained, which can be serving as a courtroom.

On Wednesday Mr Khan was indicted on expenses that he unlawfully offered state items throughout his premiership, in a case introduced by the Election Commission.

He denies the allegations and says he fulfilled all authorized necessities.

It was the primary of dozens of instances towards him through which he has been formally charged.

For months he had averted arrest, with his supporters at instances preventing pitched battles with police to maintain him out of custody.

Tuesday’s arrest was primarily based on a brand new warrant for a separate corruption case, related to the alleged switch of land for Al-Qadir University, close to Islamabad. The choose remanded Mr Khan in custody for eight days on this case.

One of his attorneys, Sher Afzal Marwat, mentioned his shopper was faring effectively and relayed a message to supporters not to surrender: “You have to stand your ground for Rule of Law,” Mr Khan mentioned.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) get together mentioned it will problem the legality of his arrest in courtroom.

The motion by Pakistan’s anti-corruption physique has led to violent protests throughout the nation.

The authorities has referred to as the military in to keep up order in a number of areas of the nation, together with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan, and Islamabad.

Extraordinary scenes on Tuesday night confirmed Mr Khan’s supporters ransacking the corps commander’s residence in Lahore, smashing chandeliers and making away with peacocks – amongst different issues – which they mentioned had been purchased with “citizen’s money”.

Pakistan’s military described 9 May as a “dark day” and warned protesters of an “extreme reaction” if properties of the state had been attacked once more.

Police in Islamabad used transport containers to attempt to block routes to the compound the place Imran Khan was showing earlier than a choose.

The BBC witnessed clashes between protesters and the police in the course of certainly one of Islamabad’s primary motorways.

Protesters started gathering after noon, some carrying with them PTI flags or sporting Imran Khan face masks.

Canisters of tear gasoline had been fired into the group quickly after they started to assemble. The protesters tried to hit the metallic casings away utilizing their sticks. There had been no arrests through the 90 minutes the BBC had been current.

“We came to do a peaceful protest, but these police are shelling us,” one man, who was holding stones and a stick and sporting a surgical masks, informed the BBC.

“Until our death we will continue this protest or until they free Imran. Otherwise we will shut the whole country.”

Mr Khan was ousted final April, lower than 4 years into his time period as prime minister.

In November, he was shot within the leg whereas campaigning amongst crowds within the metropolis of Wazirabad. He has accused a senior intelligence official of finishing up the assault – an accusation strongly denied by the navy. A day earlier than his arrest, the navy had warned Mr Khan towards repeating the allegation.

Mr Khan’s get together says he faces greater than 100 courtroom instances, which he says are politically motivated.

His supporters argue that the present authorities needs to bar him from contesting common elections due in October.

Dr Shireen Mazari, the former Minister for Human Rights in Mr Khan’s PTI authorities, informed the BBC that the best way Mr Khan had been detained amounted to state abduction.

“We don’t expect even the military to abuse the sanctity of the court in this way,” she mentioned, including that folks in Pakistan had been “seething with anger” on the means he had been handled, as effectively as wider financial issues.

However, Islamabad’s High Court declared the arrest authorized.

“Mr Imran Khan will face the law, if innocent, [he] can contest the election. But if found guilty of corruption, he will have to face the consequence of that,” Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal informed a press convention on Wednesday.

Police have arrested supporters of Mr Khan’s get together, together with Asad Umar, its secretary-general.

Mobile web companies stay closely restricted throughout the nation. Pakistan’s telecommunication authorities mentioned they’d suspended companies on directions from the inside ministry.

Schools additionally stay closed, some highways have been blocked and there may be little visitors on roads in main cities.

Many analysts imagine Mr Khan’s election win in 2018 occurred with the assistance of the navy. But amid a rising financial disaster, observers say he fell out of favour with the highly effective navy, the essential behind-the-scenes participant in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Since being in opposition, he has change into one of many navy’s most vocal critics.

Additional reporting by Farhat Javed, Usman Zahid and Malik Mudassir in Islamabad and Kelly Ng in Singapore