(Lahore) Pakistani police seem to have given up on Wednesday to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan at his home in Lahore, who cried political conspiracy, after violent clashes with hundreds of his supporters overnight.
AFP correspondents and witnesses near Mr Khan’s home in the affluent Zaman Park suburb of Lahore said security forces who had been present for several hours had retreated after having abandoned a series of roadblocks and checkpoints.
“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 its Twitter account. .
A video posted by the PTI also shows Mr Khan waving to dozens of people inside his garden and cheering supporters celebrating outside.
Overnight Tuesday-Wednesday, clashes erupted between Khan supporters and police who fired tear gas and dodged rocks thrown by an angry mob.
“The reason (for this procedure) is not that I broke any 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”.
The former prime minister was overthrown in April 2022 by a motion of no confidence and has since faced a multitude of legal proceedings. He remains very popular and hopes to return to power in legislative elections scheduled for October.
Arrest warrant upheld
This is the second time this month that police have been dispatched to his home to execute an arrest warrant, to no avail.
The former prime minister has evaded several court subpoenas, citing security concerns. His lawyers say he was released on bail.
Imran Khan, 70, has been summoned to court on charges that he failed to declare all diplomatic gifts received under his tenure and made money by reselling some of them.
“The PTI leader does not have bail for this particular case,” Islamabad police spokesman Muhammad Taqi Jawad told AFP.
A spokesman said the arrest warrant would stand despite the situation on the ground.
Earlier in the day, Mr Khan posted a video showing him sitting at a desk decorated with used tear gas canisters with Pakistani and PTI flags in the background.
“They will use tear gas against our people and do other things like that, but you have to know that they have no reason to do that,” he said.
His residence had been surrounded by hundreds of his supporters on Wednesday to repel police attempts to arrest him.
“Staging”
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 in the morning. “It is clear that the claim for an ‘arrest’ was only a set-up, as the real intent is to kidnap and murder,” he claimed.
The High Court in Islamabad convened on Wednesday to consider a new petition by the PTI to prevent Mr Khan’s arrest, which could defuse the situation.
Since his ouster, Imran 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.
Mr. Khan considers himself “above the law”, Mr. Sharif told reporters on Wednesday. “He defies all the courts in the country. It is pure and simple provocation,” he lamented.
In November, the former cricketer star was shot in the leg during a political rally. An assassination attempt he attributed to Shehbaz Sharif.
These events are taking 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.
“Lahore’s standoff illustrates how the state of the country has deteriorated,” said Tauseef Ahmed Khan, political analyst and human rights activist.
“On the one hand, this is a failure of the police and law enforcement. On the other hand, this is a new trend in South Asian politics: a political leader defies arrest by using his aides and supporters,” he added.