Local Pakistani officials said Imran Khan was arrested while appearing in court for corruption.
Meanwhile, local Pakistani TV channel “Geo” reported today, Tuesday, that a paramilitary force had arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Reuters has not yet been able to verify the authenticity of the report.
Of note, in mid-March a Pakistani judge dropped the arrest warrant for Imran Khan, the 70-year-old former cricketer, after he surrendered to court after missing several hearings.
And the French News Agency quoted his lawyer, Gohar Khan, as saying: “The court canceled the arrest warrant after Imran Khan’s appearance. The meeting has been postponed to March 30.
How did things come to court?
Imran Khan was ousted in April 2022 following a parliamentary motion of no confidence, and he faces dozens of court cases as he seeks to return to power. A warrant has been issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in a court in Islamabad on March 11 to answer charges of not disclosing all the diplomatic gifts he received during his tenure and profiting from it by selling some of them, which he denies.
After days of legal wrangling, Khan drove over 300 km from Lahore to the court complex in Islamabad, but was unable to get out of the car.
A large number of his supporters gathered around the compound and threw stones at the police. Prior to this, Khan said in a video message recorded on the highway: “I am now going to court in Islamabad. I want to tell you all that they have hatched a plan to arrest me.” In Islambad, police deployed around 4,000 operatives in anticipation, and police also raided his house in a luxurious area of Lahore, after closing nearby roads and suspending mobile phone services in the area.
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