Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan appeared in court yesterday, a day after he was dragged from another court and arrested in Islamabad, and his supporters clashed with police.
A judge was asked to approve keeping the 70-year-old opposition leader in custody for up to 14 days.
Khan, who lost power last year, but remains the country’s most popular opposition figure, is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in Pakistan.
Photo: AFP
At least two people were killed in the overnight violence, one in Quetta and the other in northwestern Pakistan, and dozens were wounded across the country.
In Punjab Province, where authorities said that 157 police officers were injured in clashes with Khan supporters, the local government asked the army to step in and restore order.
Pakistan’s GEO television broadcast footage showing Khan appearing before a judge at a temporary court inside a police compound yesterday. The former leader was seen seated in a chair, holding documents. He appeared calm, but tired.
The judge was expected to rule on the request for a 14-day detention later yesterday.
Meanwhile, Khan’s legal team challenged his arrest before the Islamabad High Court, seeking his release.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party had called for demonstrators to remain peaceful, hours after protesters set fire to the residence of a top army general in Lahore.
When he was arrested on Tuesday, Khan was appearing in court on multiple graft charges brought by Islamabad police. As he showed up in court, dozens of agents from the National Accountability Bureau backed by paramilitary troops stormed the courtroom, breaking windows after Khan’s guards refused to open the door.
Khan’s supporters attacked the military’s headquarters in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, but did not reach the main building housing the offices of army chief General Asim Munir.
Other demonstrators tried to reach the prime minister’s residence in Lahore, but were driven off by baton-wielding police.
The military had not commented on the attacks on its facilities.
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At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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