The dramatic arrest of erstwhile Prime Minister Imran Khan last week on suspicion of corruption has been deemed unlawful by Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Mr. Khan must be released right away, the judge ruled. His attorneys had contended that his Tuesday detention outside of the Islamabad courthouse was illegal. Since he was detained, there have been violent protests around the nation, resulting in at least 10 deaths and 2,000 arrests.
Mr Khan stood surrounded by his lawyers in front of the three Supreme Court judges as they told him that because of the way he had been arrested on Tuesday – inside a court complex, conducting biometric tests – the arrest was invalid.
Footage of his arrest showed paramilitary forces seizing Mr Khan, who was injured in a gun attack last year, and dragging him from inside court premises, before whisking him away in an armoured vehicle.
“Your arrest was invalid so the whole process needs to be backtracked,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial told Mr Khan. He would now be under the protection of the Supreme Court.
It was then Mr Khan’s turn to speak, defiant and indignant at the way he had been arrested.
On the top judge of Pakistan’s orders, the opposition leader who had been deposed in a vote of confidence in April of last year was brought to court.
As Mr Khan came in court, reporters hurried through the halls to film his first appearance with the public post being detained.
Mr. Khan was closely guarded as he made his way to the courtroom, which had wood panelling and was crowded with journalists and party officials.
