Pakistan PTI Party Imran Khan T-Shirt

Product Information

Members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called the former prime minister’s arrest a “state abduction” and said the makeshift hearing in the police station was a “kangaroo court”, claiming senior lawyers and figures from the party were being prevented from meeting Khan. As per the Jail Manual, the PTI chairman would be provided the facilities of TV, newspaper, and servant in the jail, according to the sources. Two weeks ago, the special court had rejected the post-arrest bail applications of Imran and Qureshi, noting that “sufficient incriminating evidence is available” against them. The PTI spokesperson, Fawad Chaudhry, alleged that police had come to arrest him as well but he had sought preventive bail from the Islamabad high court. During the hearing, the FIA team was present as well as Imran’s lawyers Salman Safdar and Umair Niazi. The former prime minister’s lawyers Naeem Haider Panjotha and Latif Khosa also reached the jail to attend the hearing.

The arrest warrant for Khan was released soon after, dated 1 May, stating he was accused of “corruption and corrupt practices”. On Tuesday night, the Islamabad high court ruled that the arrest was legal and that Khan had ignored several notices to appear in court. We will stand with you, not because I am shouting political slogans, but because it is my duty to stand with the weaker class," he told a rally of 100,000 people in Lahore in 2011. I think despite his hero image, Imran Khan has serious problems … he was making statements that alienated a lot of people." Imran Khan was casually dressed when he stepped off a bus in Pakistan's biggest city of Lahore to kisses and hugs from so many fans he could barely breathe.But will it work? The ABC has spoken to some of Mr Khan's closest allies, Pakistani experts, and staunch opponents who are all split on whether he can succeed in becoming prime minister again. Khan had travelled to Islamabad on Tuesday morning to seek bail in two corruption cases, some of dozens involving corruption, sedition and terrorism that he is facing. And last year, human rights groups accused Mr Khan of being an apologist for rapists following comments he made on an increase in sexual assaults. Once in power, Mr Khan did follow through on some of his promises. He introduced the social welfare system, a universal healthcare system in two provinces, and saw progress on a program to deal with poverty.

The governance was poor, political management was also not properly managed, and he did not show the kind of political accommodation that is needed in Pakistan to govern. On Aug 29, the IHC suspended the PTI chairman's sentence in the Toshakhana case but the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested him on the same day in connection with alleged illegal possession and use of a diplomatic cipher. I was in college when he became famous, but I never thought of him as a leader of a political party or something like that," says Nusrat Wahid, who went on to join Mr Khan's party and was elected to Pakistan's National Assembly. After Khan’s arrest, the chief justice of Islamabad, Justice Aamer Farooq, demanded an explanation “within 15 minutes” from the police chief and the interior ministry secretary as to why Khan had been detained. “Come to court and tell us why Imran has been arrested and in which case,” he said. Farooq said that if they did not appear, he would summon both Khan and the prime minister, Sharif.

Join Us

He was a young boy who was very smart and all the girls from universities were after him, but I never thought about him in this way. As the cost of living in Pakistan rose, the country's opposition parties — made up of the dynastic families Mr Khan once toppled — said he had failed to revive the economy and united to form a no-confidence motion against him. When he first became prime minister, Mr Khan's opponents accused him of having a cosy relationship with Pakistan's powerful military. Some even accused the military of rigging the election in his favour, which the electoral commission denied. The tension between the prime minister and the military might have given Mr Khan's opponents an opportunity to pounce, according to Omar Qureshi, former media adviser to one of the leaders of Mr Khan's rival parties, Billawal Bhutto.

Insp Gen Akbar Nasir Khan, of Islamabad police, urged calm and said the situation in Islamabad was normal. However, in an attempt to prevent protest, a section 144 was imposed in the city to prevent gatherings of more than five people and internet was cut off in some areas. The interior minister, Rana Sanaullah, said Khan’s arrest was because of his failure to turn up to hearings in a corruption case and denied all allegations of torture. “The arrest has been conducted by the National Accountability Bureau for causing losses to the national treasury,” he said. Meanwhile, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was also arrested in the same case, was presented in the same court at the Federal Judicial Complex, where his attendance was marked. Later, his judicial remand was also extended till Oct 10 and the hearing was adjourned. He went on to Oxford, where he captained the university's team while studying politics and philosophy.But ultimately things started to unravel for Mr Khan once he lost the support of the powerful army, according to analysts. The five-year curse of Pakistan's PMs

He was being propped up by members of parliament from other parties, and they switched sides and that's what made the difference," Mr Qureshi says. Across the country, violence continued after Khan’s arrest. At least four people were shot dead and 84 were injured after clashes broke out between protesters and police in the city of Peshawar, according to a local hospital. Vehicles were torched and the building of Radio Pakistan was set alight. Another person died from smoke inhalation after a building was set ablaze in Lahore. Late on Tuesday the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office issued a new travel warning advising against travel to several regions of Pakistan, and saying that “further disruption should be expected.”

Footer

Imran’s bail application would be heard by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on October 2, according to the IHC cause list. Meanwhile, the IHC chief justice on Tuesday rejected a request from the prosecution for an in-camera hearing of the bail application. The PTI leader, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said the party was working to secure Khan’s release and would not be deterred by arrests and intimidation. He confirmed the PTI had approached the supreme court to challenge the legality of Khan’s detention. However, his governance from 2018 did not create the impression that he is a good administrator," Professor Rizvi said. It's another cautionary tale about a celebrity who became a political leader. The rise of a 'humble sinner' Khan’s lawyer, Khawaja Harris, said he had requested that the hearing took place in a public court rather than behind closed doors in the police station, and he had not received the NAB’s inquiry report on the case. “Everyone has the right to a fair trial,” he said. Speaking outside the police station, he claimed Khan had not been given food or a bed to sleep on overnight in the police cell where he was being held.