(Lahore) Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived at his residence in Lahore on Saturday, after being released on bail after several days of legal twists and riots in the country.
He returned to his residence in eastern Pakistan in the early hours of Saturday morning. Videos uploaded by his party, the PTI, show more than a hundred supporters celebrating his release by throwing rose petals at his car.
“Mr Khan threatens decades of corruption, so of course they will not sit idly by. It’s a long fight ahead of us, but today is a victory,” said Zuneira Shah, a 40-year-old mother, after Mr. Khan’s release on bail on Friday.
On Tuesday, the former head of government (2018-2022), who has been pushing for several months for the organization of elections before October and hopes to return to power, was arrested by dozens of paramilitaries during a routine appearance before a court in Islamabad in a corruption case.
Violent clashes
The arrest of Mr. Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician star who enjoys strong popularity, sparked violent clashes in several towns across the country between his supporters and security forces. Several government buildings were set on fire, military symbols destroyed and roads blocked.
At least nine people died during these events, according to the police and the hospitals. Hundreds of police were injured and more than 4,000 people arrested, mainly in the provinces of Punjab (east) of which Lahore is the capital and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (northwest), according to the authorities.
On Friday, clashes took place between demonstrators and the police, who reacted by throwing tear gas, and shots were fired at the police, according to the police.
“Those who have shown anti-state behavior will be arrested and tried by anti-terror courts,” warned Saturday during a visit to Lahore, the current Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, who succeeded Mr. Khan.
Access to social networks, including Facebook and YouTube, was cut shortly after Mr. Khan’s arrest, before being gradually restored across the country.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that Imran Khan’s arrest at the courthouse was unlawful. He was finally released on Friday on bail for two weeks in this specific case.
The ex-prime minister who is embroiled in a series of court cases, a frequent risk for opposition figures in Pakistan, cannot under any circumstances be arrested on any other matters until Monday, the High Court also ordered. Islamabad.
PHOTO KM CHAUDARY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Supporters of the former Prime Minister celebrate his release in the streets of Lahore.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah nevertheless promised that Mr. Khan would sooner or later be arrested again: “There should be no violation of a court order. But if there is a way to stop Imran Khan [dans les limites de] court order, it will definitely be done,” he told private broadcaster Geo News on Friday.
‘Treated like a terrorist’
“The leader of the biggest party in the country has been taken from court in front of the whole nation,” Mr. Khan reacted on Friday. “They treated me like a terrorist, that had to provoke a reaction”, he added before leaving the court around which an important security device had been deployed.
On the night of Friday to Saturday, he also claimed that “one man, the army chief”, was behind his arrest.
Since his ousting, the ex-prime minister has launched into virulent diatribes against his successor, Shehbaz Sharif, and the military institution which helped him rise to power in 2018 before removing him Her confidence.
Her arrest on Tuesday came shortly after the powerful military warned against charges against her over the weekend. The ex-prime minister had once again accused a senior officer of plotting to assassinate him in November during a campaign rally where he was shot in the leg.
The military wields considerable political influence in Pakistan. It has staged at least three coups since independence in 1947 and held power for more than three decades.
Direct criticism against him is rare, because it is considered a red line not to be crossed, at the risk of finding himself in the sights of the security apparatus.