Imran Khan ally expects former PM to be re-arrested

Zulfiqar Bukhari warns of more turmoil if PTI leader is detained after bail expires

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan is escorted by police to the high court in Islamabad. AP

It is only a matter of time until Imran Khan is rearrested, a senior figure from his party told The National, as the former prime minister on Sunday called on Pakistanis to protest peacefully in his first address since he was freed from custody.

Mr Khan delivered a YouTube broadcast on Saturday night, although the speech was not aired on any of Pakistan’s major TV channels.

“Tomorrow at 5.20pm — and I am particularly addressing the women because I am seeing a revolution in our homes — you have to step out with hand-written placards inscribed with 'Haqeeqi Azadi' [true freedom] and 'Ain bachao, Pakistan bachao' [Save the constitution, save Pakistan],” he said.

Mr Khan, who is now at home in Lahore, was released on Friday after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled his detention by the military on Tuesday at the Islamabad High Court, where he was appearing in connection with a case of alleged land fraud, was “invalid” and “unlawful”.

The Islamabad High Court on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks and protection from arrest on any other charges he faces until Wednesday.

Zulfiqar Bukhari, a senior figure in Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), said: “He is [expecting it], look, he has to appear in court again, I believe, on Monday.

"Are we going to be facing a similar sort of fiasco? I believe we are,” said Mr Bukhari, who served as Mr Khan's special assistant during his time as prime minister.

Mr Bukhari warned of a further deterioration in law and order in Pakistan, which is enduring the worst economic crisis in its history, should Mr Khan be re-arrested.

He said: “He only has bail in this case for two weeks and then will we see the same kind of fiasco again? Yes.”

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has suggested Mr Khan might be arrested after Wednesday.

“If there is a reason for his arrest, then he will be arrested,” Mr Sanaullah told Geo News, a Pakistani news channel, on Friday.

Mr Khan's party called to Pakistanis take to the streets after he was forcibly taken from the Islamabad courtroom.

Several days of violent unrest followed. Mr Khan’s supporters allegedly torched or destroyed government buildings and the residences of army officials in many cities, including at the army forces headquarters in Rawalpindi.

In his speech on Saturday, Mr Khan dismissed claims his supporters were responsible for the violence, saying "my supporters, voters and workers have always remained peaceful in our 27 years of politics”.

“I want an independent and complete investigation on the burning of state buildings and firing at unarmed youth protesters. I want the chief justice of Pakistan to make a panel under him for this,” he said.

Mr Bukhari told The National the violence was incited by "certain elements" who were not PTI members. He said at least 47 people had been killed in a widespread crackdown on the PTI and its supporters — a far higher toll than the nine deaths reported by hospitals and police.

“The majority of them, at point-blank, had bullets shot at them by the armed forces in their various forms,” Mr Bukhari said. "We have about 300 people in prison and we have most of our top-tier leadership in prison as well so we mustn't forget that. We've got many people injured, of course, in hospitals.

“We’re seeing videos and footage of security forces firing directly at them and being killed. There was footage yesterday of a man being beaten by about 25 police officers. These are the human rights violations that are going on — bodies have been laid in the street, people have lost their children.”

Authorities said hundreds of police officers were injured and more than 4,000 people detained, mostly in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Mr Bukhari said plainclothes officers were detaining elderly relatives of PTI members — who could not be found — to entice them out of hiding, and that those who had been arrested were being tortured.

After his release, Mr Khan blamed the army chief for his arrest. The former national cricket captain benefited greatly from the support of the army and intelligence services — known as the establishment — when he was elected prime minister in 2018.

But, by late 2021, he had fallen out with the establishment and was ousted the following April in a no-confidence vote, with Shehbaz Sharif becoming the new Prime Minister.

However, Mr Khan’s popularity has since surged and he appears to be the firm favourite to triumph in Pakistan’s next general election, scheduled for the autumn.

Mr Khan is calling for early elections, although it looks increasingly unlikely that he will be able to take part. He is facing more than 120 criminal cases that could disqualify him from politics. In November, he narrowly survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot four times in the legs.

“For the last 12 months, there has only been one plan and that has been to eliminate Imran Khan from the political landscape in Pakistan,” said Mr Bukhari.

He said Mr Khan was devastated about the latest violent protests but was determined to continue campaigning.

“We've spoken and his mood is very sad about what is happening in the country. No one wants chaos or to collide with any of our policing forces or armed forces,” Mr Bukhari said.

“But at the same time, he knows there is a much bigger fight and much bigger struggle, and that struggle has a one-point agenda and nothing else — transparent, free and fair national elections in the country, now.”