Pakistani police on Wednesday gave up trying to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan at his Lahore home, who cried political conspiracy, after violent clashes with hundreds of his supporters overnight.
AFP correspondents and witnesses who were near Mr Khan's home in the affluent Zaman Park suburb of Lahore said security forces who had been trying for several hours to arrest the former Prime Minister retreated, abandoning a series of roadblocks and checkpoints.
An order from the Lahore High Court, seen by AFP, ordered police on Wednesday to "terminate the operation immediately and stand down" pending the outcome of a hearing in Islamabad over the warrant. judgment against Mr. Khan.
"Police and guards sent to harm Imran Khan have been repelled by the people," Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI, Pakistan Justice Movement) posted on his twitter account.
On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday clashes broke out between supporters of Mr. Khan who came to prevent his arrest and the police who fired tear gas and dodged the stones thrown by an angry crowd.
The politician, a former cricket star, was overthrown in April 2022 by a motion of no confidence and has since faced a host of legal proceedings and an arrest warrant. He nevertheless remains very popular and hopes to return to power in legislative elections scheduled for October.
"The reason (for this procedure) is not that I broke a law. They want me in prison so that I cannot participate in the elections," Imran Khan told AFP at the end of the day.
"This arrest by force has nothing to do with the rule of law", denounced the former Prime Minister, deploring the "law of the jungle".
This is the second time this month that police have been dispatched to his home to execute an arrest warrant, to no avail.
The ex-prime minister has evaded several court subpoenas, citing security concerns. His lawyers say he was released on bail.
"The PTI leader does not have bail for this particular case," Islamabad police spokesman Muhammad Taqi Jawad told AFP.
Mr Khan's legal team have been told to go to a lower court to seek a stay of their client's arrest warrant. She must also agree that the former Prime Minister will appear in person at a hearing to be held on Saturday.
Imran Khan, 70, was summoned to court on charges that he failed to declare all diplomatic gifts received during his tenure and made money by reselling some of them.
In the morning, videos circulating on social media - largely released by the PTI - showed several bloodied supporters and others struggling with tear gas. A PTI official tweeted that there was an "urgent need" for first aid kits.
"The way the police are attacking our people is unprecedented," condemned Mr. Khan. “It is clear that the demand for an arrest was only a set-up, because the real intention is to abduct and murder,” he claimed.
Mr. Khan considers himself "above the law", replied Mr. Sharif, speaking to journalists. "He defies all the courts in the country. It's pure and simple provocation," he lamented.
Since his ouster, Mr. Khan has put pressure on the government of Shehbaz Sharif, his successor, by multiplying large gatherings. He also dissolved the two provincial assemblies controlled by his party in an attempt to obtain early elections which the government refuses.
In November, the former cricket star was shot in the leg at a political rally. An assassination attempt he attributed to Shehbaz Sharif.
These events take place in a tense context: the country, which has more than 220 million inhabitants, is in the grip of serious economic difficulties with galloping inflation, insufficient foreign exchange reserves and a stalemate in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. .
The security situation is also deteriorating with a series of deadly attacks targeting the police, linked to the Pakistani Taliban.
"The Lahore standoff illustrates how badly the state of the country has deteriorated," said political analyst and human rights activist Tauseef Ahmed Khan.
“On the one hand, this is a failure of police and law enforcement. On the other hand, this is a new trend in South Asian politics: a political leader challenging arrest using his collaborators and supporters," he added.
03/15/2023 15:01:57 - Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
