Pakistan: Former PM Imran Khan Appears In Court Amid Clashes Between Supporters And Police

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan came back to court on Friday to understand if he will be protected from renewed arrest or taken back into custody, a decision that is keeping the government and a large number of his supporters on tenterhooks after days of violence.

Khan, the 70-year-old popular opposition leader, was up before the same court from which he had earlier been dragged and arrested on Tuesday. Nationwide protests had followed Imran Khan’s arrest, during which his supporters attacked military bases, torched vehicles and ambulances and looted shops in different parts of the country. The violence was roundly condemned by the government.

Complex legal maneuvers are likely to take place at Friday’s court session.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday had declared Khan’s arrest to be unlawful, but then asked a lower court, the Islamabad High Court, to reconsider its previous decision to uphold the arrest.

It was also stated by the Supreme Court that it would respect the Islamabad court’s ruling on Friday. The government meanwhile said Khan would quickly be rearrested if the Islamabad High Court’s earlier order was upheld.

Slogans in support of Khan were shouted by his supporters, even as he arrived at the Islamabad High Court amid tight security. Police arrested several of them for their defiance of a ban on rallies.

The National Accountability Bureau arrested Khan on Tuesday in connection with graft charges, during which he was dragged out of Islamabad High Court by security agents.

On Friday, he was back in the same court to know his fate.

At least 10 of Khan’s supporters were left dead in this week's violence. Protesters by the dozens and more than 200 police officers were injured. Trucks, cars and police vehicles were torched by rotesters and highways blocked.

This week’s violence echoed the unrest that followed the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during an election rally. At the time, her supporters rampaged for days across Pakistan, outraged by her killing.

Ousted as prime minister last year, Khan now leads the opposition. He faces more than 100 legal cases, most involving charges that he incited the violence and threatened police and government officials. At least three graft cases are also faced by him. On Thursday, a new terrorism charge was filed against him for allegations of inciting his supporters to violence following his arrest.

A defendant can seek protection from arrest in court hearings, under Pakistan's legal system. Khan has not obtained such protection in the cases against him and is vulnerable to arrests.

After the Supreme Court ordered his release on Thursday, Khan spent a night at a government guest house in Islamabad, where he met with his family members and friends. Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi also met with him.

Alvi has been trying to reduce the tension between Khan and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's government, in order to avoid escalation of violence in the country where military takeovers are common, along with political crises and violence.

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