Pakistan top court orders Imran Khan to be presented at court – media

Reuters:

ISLAMABAD, May 11 – Pakistan’s top court on Thursday ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be presented before the court in an hour after his legal team challenged his arrest, local media reported, amid violent and widespread protests sparked by his detention.

Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested so far and at least five killed after Khan’s supporters clashed with police, attacked military establishments and set other state buildings and assets ablaze, prompting the government to call in the army to help restore order.

Khan, 70, is cricket hero-turned-politician who was ousted as prime minister in April 2022 in a parliamentary no-confidence vote and who is Pakistan’s most popular leader according to opinion polls. He was arrested on Tuesday by the anti-graft agency in a land fraud case. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Violence triggered by his arrest has aggravated instability in the country of 220 million people that is grappling with a severe economic crisis. The crisis has eroded hopes of a quick resumption of an International Monetary Fund bailout programme.

Tensions remained high on Thursday with troops and police on the streets in major cities. In the eastern city of Lahore, Khan’s hometown, where protesters ransacked the house of a top army general on Tuesday, troops held a flag march.

In the capital, Islamabad, footage shared by a police official showed military jeeps with mounted guns lined up on the side of a road and soldiers holding assault rifles.

Mobile data services remained suspended and schools and offices were closed in two of Pakistan’s four provinces.

The army has warned Khan’s supporters it will respond firmly if there are further attacks on its assets, saying in a statement on Wednesday that during the violence it showed “restraint, patience and tolerance”.